House of Cards
by HypnoticMelody
Summary: -MMPR S1- "Each player must accept the cards life deals them: they alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game." After moving back to Angel Grove, Melody Porter's life gets turned upside down and shuffled in with the Power Rangers. She learns just how hard it is to keep up her poker face while leading a double life. One false move and can come crashing down.
1. Welcome Back to Angel Grove

**House of Cards**

**Summary-**"_Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game." _-**Voltaire**

–Set after Doomsday, MMPR S1- After moving back to Angel Grove, Melody Porter learns that monster attacks and strange occurrences are a normal part of life. As her life gets turned upside down and shuffled in with the Power Rangers, she learns just how hard it is to keep up her poker face. It's hard lead a double life when one false move can cause everything to come crashing down.

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**01:**

_Welcome Back to Angel Grove_

As if moving away from Angel Grove in the first place wasn't bad enough, moving back, in the middle of the school year, was just downright cruel and unusual punishment. At least, that's how 15-year-old Melody Porter thought of it. The 'New Student' window had already closed and God knows everybody had already formed new friendships, and new cliques if they didn't stay tight with their old friends. As soon as she stepped through the halls of Angel Grove High that Monday morning, she knew she'd have all the attention. And not in a good way.

It was already bad enough that she was held back a year because she moved in the first place, so it wasn't like she'd ever see her old friends. _If they even remember you_, she thought to herself, sliding forward on her butt as she used her feet to push a cardboard box to the opening of the moving truck. _You've been gone for six years, remember? _Six long years.

"Here's another heavy one, dad," Melody said, using her shoulder to brush her wavy, black tresses out of her blue eyes. She wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling her knees to her chest. A pair of hands reached forward and grasped the box, pulling it off the truck bed with a loud scraping sound.

Michael Porter, Melody's dad, balanced the box between his stomach and the edge of the truck before tilting his head as he peered at her. "What's the matter, Freckles?" he asked and Melody put her head down on to her knees before lifting her hand, running her fingers through her hair.

"I hate it when you call me that, dad," she said, twisting her mouth to the side before running her hand over her nose, as if trying to wipe away the spots that were splattered over the bridge of her nose. If it wasn't her freckles it was the mole on the right side of her top lip that she hated. She thought she was pretty average looking with her dark hair and piercing blue eyes. A lot of people said that they thought the freckles and the mole added to her beauty, but she couldn't help but notice how big her mole was and how many freckles she actually had.

"I call you that all the time, Sweet Pea," Michael replied, drumming his fingers on the sides of the cardboard box, making a point of changing the name he called her. Melody gave a small smile, resting her chin on the top of her knees. "You're worried about school aren't you?"

"Maybe," Melody replied, sticking her nose in the air. Michael reached forward and flicked her on the nose before making a face at her as if saying, 'That's-not-like-you.' And it wasn't. She laughed, wrinkling her nose slightly before batting his hand away. "It's just being back here, again, that's kind of weird." She had moved to Angel Grove when she was seven, stayed for three years, and then moved away again, only to return six years later.

"Well," Michael said, moving to put the box down onto the ground. He clapped his hands together before wiping them on the seat of his jeans, moving to sit down next to her. "This might help. Do you remember Jason Scott?"

Melody's eyebrows twitched before she gave a nod of her head. Of course she remembered Jason Lee Scott. She wouldn't have had any friends in Angel Grove the first time if it wasn't for him. She remembered back around the time when she was first starting at Angel Grove Elementary, it was a stormy day and she had dropped her school books in a puddle. He had willingly swapped his school books with hers, and he and his friends, Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, and Billy Cranston had all been some of the best friends she's ever had.

"Why?" Melody asked, giving him a curious look.

"I've been in contact with her on and off over the years, and more frequently in the past few days," Michael replied, giving his daughter a warm smile. "She's invited us over for dinner tonight. So, you'll get to see him again at least."

Melody's eyebrows shot up as a look of amusement crossed her face. "Why, so he could kick me in the face and knock out one of my teeth?" she asked.

Micahel let out a bark of laughter before scratching at the back of his neck. "Wouldn't be the first time," he muttered. "Although, that was partly my fault."

Melody made a noise in the back of her throat, giving him a pointed look. The same afternoon that Jason had taken her damp school books, she had gone to his house to wait for her dad who was late to pick her up from school. Jason had taken martial arts lessons for a couple of months at that time and was punching and kicking everything…including her face. He had knocked out one of her baby teeth and all the blood scared her so much she had started to cry. That was right before she turned around and punched him back, knocking out one of _his _teeth. They were best friends since, until she moved away anyway.

"Just don't punch him," Michael finally said, making a face. Melody stuck her tongue out at him and he lifted a hand to flick her forehead. "I know how your annoyance can…get the best of you."

"It's part of my charm," Melody replied with a toothy smile and Michael chuckled before sliding to the ground. He bent at the knees and picked up the box he had previously set down on the ground. She looked around at all the boxes that were still in the truck. "Is there any way we're going to get this done tonight?"

"Well," Michael replied, looking around at some of the boxes that sat in small stacks on the ground, "we should definitely get out the bedding and the pots and pans." He let out a sigh through his nose before using the box to push some of his hair off his forehead. "Unless you want to sleep and eat in the living room for a week…again."

Melody pressed her lips together as she carefully climbed down from the back of the truck, carrying the box in her hands. Michael worked as a contractor, and shortly after moving from Angel Grove, he broke his ankle on the job, making it hard for them to not only move in, but it had already put them behind in paying bills.

Once she was old enough, Melody started looking for, and landing jobs to help him pay their bills. She was hoping to find a place in Angel Grove to work, partly out of habit, and partly because she wanted some extra money to spend on herself. Being back in Angel Grove, where his job was high in demand, there wasn't a need for her to help pay the bills. Melody thought her dad was crazy to want to move back to Angel Grove; which was being featured every night on the news due to monster attacks led by Rita Repulsa.

Why would you want to move to a place that got attacked by monsters every day? Michael had assured her that with the Power Rangers around, the city would be safe, and she couldn't deny that with all the destruction caused by the monster attacks, this was the best way for him to get a lot of work. It was good money, too. Besides, God only knew how much this city needed new buildings as fast as possible.

"Not if you're going to try to sell me the camping angle," she replied with a smirk.

Michael rolled his eyes, shaking his head before leading the way into the house. She set the box down and crossed her arms over her chest, looking around. It was weird to know that she had moved back to her old city, but she moved into a new home.

It was decently sized for two people. The foyer led to a sitting area on the left, with stairs leading upstairs directly in front of them. The foyer branched off into a walkway that branched off into a front computer room, an office, and stairs that lead into the basement. Walking through the hall led into the kitchen and on the left and right of the kitchen was a dining room, an expanded area for a table, and a short flight of step down stairs that led into the vast living room. The back doors to the living room opened up into a sun room which connected to the deck out in the back yard. It was going to take a while to unpack everything and to have it all in its proper place.

"I'm going to look for the bowls and stuff," Melody announced, gathering her long hair into her hands, pulling it back into a ponytail, grasping for the elastic band that sat on her wrist.

With quick twists of her wrists, she twisted her hair into a ponytail. Braiding her hair, she stepped back out of the house and then over to the truck. She grasped the handle off the back and stepped up on to the runner before, pulling herself up into the back of the truck. She shifted some boxes around, looking for a lighter one.

"Need any help?"

Melody paused, blinking when she heard the deep voice behind her before turning around to see a teenage boy standing by the truck, straddling a bike. He gave her a smile as he carefully slid a plate of plastic wrap covered cookies on to the bed of the truck. He then grasped the handle bars before resting his arms on them.

Her eyes narrowed slight as she looked him over, taking in his short cut, chestnut-brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was giving her a close-lipped lopsided smile. He had on a red, sleeveless flannel shirt, showing off the muscles in his arms—of which Melody instantly took notice of—jeans, and red shoes. As he shifted his position on the bike, the sun bounced off the bracelet on his wrist.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked after a moment of silence, letting out a deep laugh as he sat up, resting his hands on his thighs. His eyebrow twitched as his smile widened a little more. He put his hands up defensively. "Promise I won't show off any of my martial arts or anything."

"Not like I wouldn't be able to defend myself, now," Melody finally said, a smile coming to her face as she abandoned the box hunt. She slid her hands into her jeans pockets as she made her way over to him. She didn't know whether to give him a hug or to shake his hand, or what. How _do _you great a friend you hadn't seen in years? "Hey, Jason."

Jason Lee Scott gave a slight nod of his head. "Hey, Mel," he replied.

"What's up?" Melody asked. "What are you doing here?" _Seeing you, of course. God, that was a stupid question._

"Mom asked me to see if you needed any help moving in," Jason replied before his gaze turned towards the house behind them. He then turned back towards her. "Nice place."

"Not like the old one," Melody replied, jumping off the back of the truck and on to the ground, landing gracefully on both feet. She put her hands back into her pockets, her nose wrinkling slightly as she smiled. "Although, with how many holes we punched, and kicked, into the walls, I'm not surprised they didn't sell it back to us."

Jason laughed before opening an arm towards her. Melody smiled before stepping forward, wrapping her arms around his wide chest to give him a hug. Her head barely came up to his shoulder, and even his chest felt like it was packed with muscles. She couldn't believe how much he had changed over the past six years, but it had clearly been pretty good to him.

"It's good to see you, again," Jason said as she took a step back from him. He then tilted his head slightly to the side. "I can't believe it's been six years."

"Doesn't look like a lot's changed in Angel Grove over those years," Melody said, rocking back an forth on her feet. Her eyes lit up, a moment. "Although, I did see a sign by the park on the way here, it looked like they were cleaning up a huge celebration. I've heard about the Power Rangers—I mean, who hasn't at this point—but I didn't know they had a whole day dedicated to them."

It was a rarity to not hear about the Power Rangers or to see them mentioned on the news nightly even if you didn't live in Angel Grove. She thought it was pretty cool that those five masked figures would protect Angel Grove day in and day out. She remembered when she was younger and would run to the local comic book store with her friends to pick up the latest issue of whatever comic series was coming out.

Melody watched as Jason's eyebrows twitched and he used his hand to scratch at the spot on his nose. "Yeah, it was pretty unexpected," he agreed with a nod of his head, "but it was pretty cool. Seemed like the whole town came out." He added quietly. "The Power Rangers have done a lot for us."

"That couldn't be Jason Scott."

"You remember my dad," Melody said, waving a hand towards Michael as the older man made his way down the gravel driveway.

"Yeah, of course," Jason replied, swinging his leg over the side of his bike, allowing it to crash to the ground before offering his hand to the older man. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. P."

"You, too, son, you too," Michael replied, shaking Jason's hand, using his free hand to clap him on the shoulder. "Your mom's been telling me a lot about you. Turned into a great martial artist from what I've heard." He squinted his eyes slightly. "Looks like you've finally grown an inch or two."

"Yeah, you could say that," Jason replied with a small chuckle. He then shrugged his shoulders before clapping his hands together. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Sure, we could use the man power," Michael replied.

_If anyone had that, it's Jason_, Melody thought to herself as she lifted herself back up on to the truck. She headed towards the back, leaving the two of them to their man talk. Here she was, meeting up with an old friend of hers, and she barely talked to him for five minutes before he got into another conversation. She thought for sure her mention of continuing her martial arts would have caught his attention. But, subtlety wasn't her forte. Not when she was best known for wit and sarcasm.

"You can't outwit a wit," she would always say about her quick tongue.

Unfortunately, it was just something that came naturally to her and often landed her in trouble as she never really thought about what she was going to say before she said it. It was how she had gotten the nickname Mellie-Mean for a short while; courtesy of Zack Taylor. God, she hated that nickname.

"So, you're going to Angel Grove High, then?" Jason asked, stepping up into the truck, his voice echoing around the walls. The truck swayed as he made his way to the back, reaching for a box labeled _Books_.

"Yeah, Junior year," Melody replied. Jason stopped and turned to look at her, a confused look on his face. "I got held back a year. But, I'm trying to see if I can get into the senior English class…which, I'm assuming you all would be in." Jason nodded his head. "So, how's everybody? Kim? Trini? Is Zack still obnoxious?"

Jason laughed. "Like you weren't," he shot back, giving her an amused look. "Man, the two of you could never sit in the same room together without getting into an argument."

"Hey, he started at least half of them," Melody replied with a half-smile.

"And you had to finish all of them," Jason pointed out.

"Come on, Jase, you know me," Melody said, walking past him, jostling his elbow with her own, "I never back down from a fight." She would even continue arguments with people despite knowing that she was wrong, just so she wouldn't have to admit it. A mock thoughtful look came to her face. "That could be why I punched you. I'm sorry about that, by the way."

"Yeah, me too," Jason replied, jumping down from the back. "Where're these going?" He shook the box in his arms before adjusting it in his arms.

"My room," Melody replied, nodding towards the house. "Come on." She stepped over Jason's abandoned bike, cutting across the lush green lawn, towards the front porch. "So? How's everybody?"

"Everybody's great," Jason replied, shrugging. "We made a new friend this year, Tommy. He was the new kid, kind of a loner, but Kim got him over that pretty quickly." Melody looked over at him just in enough time to see him gave a small eye roll despite the smile on his face. "They're dating. Although, I bet that's not too surprising."

"Not really," Melody agreed.

"Well, we're all helping out at this Pet Fair kind of thing tomorrow," Jason said, following her up the stairs and into her bedroom before setting the box down on to the floor. "It's where the local pound takes all the animals and sees if they can find people to adopt them. Everyone's going to be there; Kim, Billy, Trini, Zack. Tommy's preparing for a tournament so he might show up later, but it'll be fun. We can go to the Youth Center afterwards."

A fond smile came to Melody's face. If there was one place in all of Angel Grove that she missed, it was the Youth Center. Ernie Hudson had own and ran the Youth Center for as long as she could remember. It was a great gym and juice bar combination. There was plenty of space for people to use weight lifting machines, and cardio machines, with an area to relax and get tasty snacks.

She remembered when she would attend soccer camps over the summer and they would hold after game parties at the Youth Center attended summer camps and would always go to the Youth Center to get cool energy drinks and smoothies, as well as hold after-party games. The Youth Center always had the most up to date arcade games. She wasn't surprised that it became the local hang out spot.

"It'll be…morphinomenal," Jason added and Melody gave him a weird look.

"Is that even a word?" she asked before planting a hand on her cocked hip. "You must've been hanging around Kim for too long she made up words all the time." She stepped towards him and put a hand on his forehead, giving a small frown as if worried that he might be coming down with something. She then gave him a sweet smile. "But, don't worry; I'll get you back on the fast track to Coolsville in no time."

"Funny," Jason replied, slapping her hand away. "So you in? I told Kim that you're back, she's probably told everyone else by now." Melody opened and closed her mouth before crossing her arms over her chest, leaning up against the dresser behind her.

Jason Lee Scott was her closest friend before she had moved away. He put up with her sarcasm, and tough love attitude for her duration of being in Angel Grove. He always had her back since that rainy day and was always looking out for her. He was always the one to hold the group together, give them confidence and support if, and when, they needed it. Even when they were kids, he had confidence for the two of them.

Zack was a goofball and was always making her laugh and looking for a good time. He always had a smile on his face, and would be the first one to do something silly or stupid to try to get you to smile. Unfortunately, he was the one to crack the lamest jokes that one he thought was funny. At least he always cracked himself up. One thing that was going for him was that he had great dance moves.

From what she could remember, Trini was the soft-spoken type, but had the best advice for you. She always had a nice thing to say about people, and always took the role of peacekeeper when she and Zack got into fights. Nothing frazzled her. Absolutely nothing…except for heights. But, that was Melody's fault, not that she would own up to it. But, she _was _the one that had pushed her off the top of a jungle gym in the Fourth Grade.

Kimberly Hart was going to be a fashionista one day, Melody could tell. If not become the next Kerri Strugg, minus the foot injury. If it wasn't for Kimberly, Melody wouldn't be able to do back handsprings or a back tuck. Kimberly was always into the hottest new things; clothes, shoes, music, and TV shows and drove her crazy, sometimes, but Kimberly—or Kim as she was always called—was her best girl friend. She was always sweet, kind, and pretty and everyone liked her.

Billy Cranston was hard to get to know for his love of science and use of big words even at the age of ten. Melody had always thought that he would be the next Bill Gates. He always got so excited when he got the opportunity to learn new things and to figure out why things work the way they do. He was smart, dedicated, and loyal, a great friend to have.

They were all great friends to have. Whether they knew it or not, they had all helped her out with problems she had in one way or another. Jason had helped her face her problems, Zack taught her how to laugh through them all, Trini taught her how to calm down and see problems from every side instead of immediately acting on impulse, Kimberly was always there for her to listen to her problems, and Billy, somehow, used his knowledge of science to help her show how bottling up her thoughts and feelings would cause her problems to worsen. She just hoped that they were still the same friends that she had left behind.

"Yeah," she finally said after a moment of silence. She looked over at him and gave him a smile. "I'm in." She scratched the back of her head. "Besides, it's been pretty lonely with it just being dad and I. It's been too quiet after mom passed and you know how much I hate the quite." Jason gave a slight nod of his head. "Maybe I can find a dog or something to bring home."

She blinked in surprise at how easily that had come out before relaxing her features. But, it _was _Jason. She always felt like she could talk to him and he wouldn't judge her. She hadn't talked about her mom in such a long time. Most cases she just never brought it up, but when the topic was being brought up, she tried to change the subject as quickly as possible.

It wasn't for her as much as it was for her dad. She thought a part of the reason he had them move so much was because he couldn't imagine settling in any one place without her. He was always trying to keep himself busy, or at least that's what she liked to think. It was better than thinking that he was avoiding being at home and around her.

"You look so much like her" he would often say. So often that she started to get annoyed boy those words. But, she accepted it like every other time.

A far off look would emerge in his eyes and he would stare off into space. An odd smile would appear, as if This preceded a far off look emerging in his eyes and he would suddenly drop whatever it was that they were doing at that moment. It would make her feel like a jerk for upsetting him whether she could really help it or not. It wasn't fair, but he never wanted to talk about it, so she just stopped bringing it up.

"I heard about your mom," Jason said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, thanks," Melody replied, scratching at her hair-line before flicking her braided hair off of her shoulder. She felt it thump against her back.

Jason scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot before looking her in the eye. "Hey, look," he said quietly, "I know we haven't talked much over the years, but we've been able to tell each other anything. If you wanted to talk about it—whenever you're ready—you can come to me."

"I know," Melody replied, allowing a hint of a smile. She then peered over at him, her lips curling up in the corners "But, that doesn't mean you're getting out of helping me move in."

Jason snapped his fingers, shaking his head back and forth, pressing his lips together. "I thought my plan would've worked perfectly," he said with a sigh.

Melody faked a laugh before shoving his shoulder as she passed him. "So, what are your parents making for dinner?" she asked as they headed back down the stairs to get the rest of her belongings.

"Spaghetti," Jason replied.

"My favorite," Melody replied with a smile. She loved being over at the Scott house. It was warm and inviting and always smelled like whatever it was that Mrs. Scott was baking.

After spending a couple more hours helping Melody and her dad move boxes inside, Jason bid them farewell, until that evening, and pedaled off on his bike. The two of them started to unpack boxes, looking for bedding, their clothes, and linens. After returning the moving truck back to the rental company, and showering, they arrived on the Scott's doorstep.

The door swung open and Melody felt a wide smile come to her face when she came face to face with Jason's mother, Lisa Scott. She was a beautiful woman with kind, brown eyes, and an equally warm smile. "Michael, Melody, it's so nice to see you, again," she said, taking a step forward to envelop the two of them in a hug. Melody gave the woman a hug in return, the smell of flowers invading her was comforting. "Come in, come in."

"How've you been, Mrs. Scott?" Melody asked, stepping inside. She twisted her fingers together, looking around the foyer. It looked just like she remembered it.

"You can call me, Lisa, Mel, you know that," Lisa replied, reaching out a hand to cup Melody's cheek, giving her a warm smile. "You've grown up to be such a beautiful young lady. You can leave your shoes by the door." Melody used one foot to step on the heel of the other, pulling her foot out of her shoes. "Unfortunately, Charlie won't be joining us, he's got to work late tonight. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Anything I can do to help?" Melody asked, following the woman into the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway and felt her dad place his hands on her shoulders, and rest his chin on top of her head. "I don't mind."

"Oh no, dear, that's quite alright," "It's kind of weird to see you coming through the front door. I'm so used to you climbing in through the window." Lisa replied with a smile. She laughed a bit, putting her hand to her head. "I'm sorry, Mel, I just can't believe it's been this long since you've left. Jason's upstairs in his room, go on up."

"Oh, uh, thank you," Melody replied before making her way up the stairs. Her legs moved on autopilot as she took the stairs two at a time, before making her way towards Jason's bedroom door. She paused, knocking on the door frame. She looked around the room. "Jase?"

"I'm in here," Jason's voice came from the closet. Melody rounded his bed and found him standing on a stool in his closet, reaching for the box on the top shelf. "Here, hold this while I get down."

"Sure," Melody replied, and then grinned. "Lugging all those boxes, you must've lost all that man-power."

"This coming from the one who got all the light boxes," Jason replied as he jumped to the ground, pushing the stool aside with his foot. He switched off the light in the closet before taking the box back from her, dropping down on to his bed. She sat down beside him, curiously looking at the box. He removed the top before digging through a stack of old pictures. "I was looking through these this morning. Here." He lifted one of the pictures out of the box and handed it to her.

As soon as she took in the picture—her, Zack, and Jason dressed up as the Three Musketeers complete with mustaches—she burst out laughing. "Oh my god," she gasped, staring down at it. "I remember this. You and Zack were such cornballs, sword fighting everywhere. With those branches."

Jason grinned. "Yeah, and mom would always take them from us," he added. "But, we kept finding more when she wasn't looking." Melody handed him the picture back. "She would always say—"

"_You'll poke someone's eye out_," the two of them said together in high-pitched voices before they burst out laughing. Melody doubled over, laughing, her hair falling over her face, a hand on her stomach. Jason was the first to recover from the laughing spell. "She was right though; I nearly popped Zack's eye out."

"His eyebrows weren't any better," Melody joked, leaning over to look at the picture. "Wasn't this the time where he insisted that he knew how to use his dad's electric razor?" She shook her head back and forth, letting out a low whistle. "Dude looked like an alien, I swear."

"It didn't help that you called him Zalien until they grew back," Jason chuckled. "You guys were always at each other's throats."

"Nah, I love Zack," Melody replied with a shake of her head, looking through the other pictures. "Besides, he started them. All of them and if he says any different, he's lying."She looked up at Jason and smirked. "He always came up with those bright ideas that got us all in trouble."

"Like that one time we snuck out to go to the park to help him practice for the middle school basketball tryouts?" Jason asked before running a hand over his face. "If there was one time for being thankful and hating that my dad is a cop, it was then."

"Yeah, but it was worth it," Melody replied with a nod of her head. "Zack got on the team, and for once in your life you actually broke the rules. You were a real boy." Her words went higher pitched at the end as she mimicked Pinocchio. Melody grunted when she got a pillow to the back of the head. "Hey, if it wasn't for _this _Pinocchio" she pointed a finger at herself, "we would've gotten in much worse trouble. Shoot, I don't know how you guys would've lasted so long without me. I made your lives entertaining—oof!"

Melody reached behind her and grabbed the second pillow on the bed. Grasping it with both hands, she swung her arms around, and hit Jason in the side, barely missing him as he moved his pillow to blocker attack. As they got into a pillow fight before being called down to dinner, Melody's cheeks and stomach hurt from how much she was laughing.

It was like she had never left.

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**A/N: **So, this is a re-write of my first Power Rangers fic, _Midnight Silhouettes. _This story reintroduces my OC, Melody Porter, and her family, her powers, and her plot 's taking parts of that first story, but mixing it in with a new idea, as well as following the episodes of the season. But, it's not like how I wrote _One of the Guys_ where I basically had the episodes with an added character_. _The chapters are more loosely based off of the episodes, but in a way, it's still like re-telling MMPR with an extra character.

You'll also find that this fic also focuses on, what I call, "normal teenage problems." I wouldn't personally call it a darker version of MMPR as the term "dark and gritty", in regards to how people want to see a grown up MMPR have been overused. But, I hope you all like this and stick around to see where it goes.

**PS: *****I'm still writing One of the Guys/Samurai series. If you're looking for them, PM me***

**~HypnoticMelody~**


	2. The Gang's All Here

_"If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you." -Paul Newman_

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**02:**

_The Gang's All Here_

"Can I help you?"

Melody pushed herself off of the doorway of the administrative office at Angel Grove High. She peered at the name plate outside of the door before sticking her head back in. She peered over at the lady at the lady sitting behind the large, oak table before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a note card and read off the slanted, thing writing style that was her dad.

"Yeah, um, I'm looking for Ms. Hammer," she said. Melody lowered the note card, tapping the corner against her bottom lip. She adjusted her backpack on her back.

The woman coughed quietly, before moving her hands away from her computer screen to tap the name plate that sat at the edge of her L-shaped desk. Melody's eyes trailed down and saw the name Caroline Hammer printed on it in gold lettering. Melody shifted her blue eyes from the name plate, up to the woman's face. Ms. Hammer quirked her right eyebrow.

_I can read, thanks for checking_, Melody thought to herself, fighting he urge to roll her eyes. "I got a call to come in to register for my classes," she said as she folded the note card in half, sticking it into her pocket, "and to talk to Principal Kaplan."

"He should be back any minute, but you can talk to me in the mean time," Ms. Hammer said, turning away fully from her computer. "Hi, I'm Caroline Hammer, registrar for Angel Grove High and secretary to Principal Kaplan." She offered her small, bony hand and when Melody slid her hand into hers, suddenly gritted her teeth. The small woman had a grip! Melody felt like her fingers were going to pop. "Sit, sit. You must be Melody Porter."

"Yep, that's me." Melody pulled her hand back, flexing her finger muscles as she moved to sit down in the cushy, what looked like, leather chair. She dropped her backpack to the floor and scooted her chair closer to the desk.

She folded her hands on the desk as Ms. Hammer got to her feet, heading over to the rows of cabinets sitting at the back wall. As Ms. Hammer went through her files, Melody looked around the room, her eyes landing on the large, circular Angel Grove High sign. She felt her lips twitch up into a brief smile.

"Do you have your identification papers with you?" Ms. Hammer asked, placing her hand flat out onto the table.

"Um, yes, I do," Melody replied reaching for her backpack. She lifted it up into her lap and unzipped it. She reached inside and pulled out a folder, handing it over to Ms. Hammer. The secretary opened the folder and quickly looked through the pink, blue, green, white, and yellow papers, nodding to herself.

"Alright, Ms. Porter," Ms. Hammer said as she set down the folder, turning in her chair to face the younger girl, "it looks like you've got a good writing career ahead of you. Writing Workshop, British Literature, Creative Writing, Intermediate Creative Writing, I'm pretty impressed."

"Thanks," Melody said with a smile, sitting up straight in her seat. "That's why I was hoping I'd be able to get into the advanced English class."

"If I were to do that, Ms. Porter, what courses would you take the rest of your time here?" Ms. Hammer asked, peering over at Melody as she dropped into her swivel chair, peering up over at her over the top of the stack of papers in her hands.

"Electives?" Melody replied. "I could take Advanced Creative Writing, and that non-fiction class, take more music courses." She used her hand to brush her long hair away from her face, moving it all onto one side of her neck. "Music Theory I starts this semester, I could at least get to Music Theory IV by the end of my senior year."

"I see that you were held back a year," Ms. Hammer said as she smoothed out the paper, setting them down onto the table before threading her fingers together. "Mind telling me why? You had stellar grades, but it seemed to have shifted suddenly this year."

Melody scratched at her hairline, her eyes darting around the vast office. "I'd rather not say," Melody replied in a low tone. She crossed her arms over her chest, slumping down in her seat. Ms. Hammer quirked an eyebrow. "School jut isn't my thing sometimes."

"So then, why do you want to get into advanced classes?" Ms. Hammer asked.

Melody sucked in a deep breath of air. _What's with the Spanish Inquisition_? She thought to herself. She was silent for a long moment before popping her lips. "I want to give myself a chance at being goo at something," she finally replied after a moment of silence. "Music and writing have always been something I always got good feedback on. It was always something I knew I could do well without a second thought. I don't second guess myself with it, I guess."

"I see," Ms. Hammer replied, "however, that English class meets at the same time as band." Melody's eyebrows shot up. "However, if you want to take up one of your free periods or study halls, I think we can work something out with the band director."

"Wait," Melody said, putting her hand up. "You have both free periods _and _study halls here?"

"It was something that was newly implemented about a year and a half ago," Ms. Hammer replied, reaching for a pen in her pen cup. "For those students who have had trouble in courses from the year before, in this case due to your grades in the spring semester of your last school year, you get assigned study halls. If you are doing well, those study halls get turned into free periods. It's not uncommon for students to have both. Study halls are essential for when students want, and need, to get help in your classes."

She started rapidly writing on a stack of sticky notes. Her handwriting was cursive and loopy. She hummed to herself as she wrote on the notepad. She then set her pen down and pushed back in her chair, sliding backwards until the wheels of the chair, hit the side of a box. She then turned around and lifted the top of the cardboard box, reaching for a spiral bound book.

"Here's the handbook for Angel Grove High," she announced, suddenly in a monotone. "I expect to read it cover to cover, and understand all of the rules and regulations, we at Angel Grove High expect you to follow the rules. Coming into the school year at this time of year, we're giving you a bit of leeway in regards to signing up for a fall sport, which is listed on page 45—"

"What do you have in regards to soccer?" Melody asked, interrupting Ms. Hammer. She cringed when the woman gave her a pointed look. "Excuse me, ma'am. I ran cross country back at my other school, in the fall and soccer in the spring but—"

"We don't have the funds for a women's soccer team in the spring season," Ms. Hammer said with a sigh and a frown. "As well, not enough girls were interested in the sport to want to _have _a team."

"So…what about the boys team?" Melody asked. Ms. Hammer's eyebrows shot up. "Could I try out for the boy's team?"

"You…want to go to tryout…for the boys' soccer team?" Ms. Hammer asked.

"I'm good," Melody insisted, leaning forward in her seat. "I am. I've been playing since I could walk, basically. I know I can do it." Ms. Hammer opened and closed her mouth. "Really."

"It's a tougher sport, Ms. Porter," Ms. Hammer slowly replied, staring at Melody, unblinking. She let out a heavy sigh, putting her face into her hand for a brief moment. "Let me at least talk to Mr. Kaplan about it first as well as the soccer coach. I don't know if there are any rules or regulations for this. Let me tell you, it's also pretty unheard of."

"I know," Melody replied, slowly nodding her head.

Ms. Hammer stared at her for a long moment before giving a brief twitch of his head. "I see," she replied after a bout of silence. "Well, if you would step over here, we can take your picture and issue you your student ID, which you will keep on you at all times while you're on school grounds."

"Yes, ma'am," Melody replied, getting to her feet.

"Stand over on the 'X', please," Ms. Hammer said, pointing towards the floor as she stood to reach a cabinet. Melody kept her gaze to the floor and saw that there was a bright pink, taped X on the floor. She moved to stand on it and saw that Ms. Hammer had a camera in her hands. "Smile. Or not, it doesn't matter." Melody pulled her lips back into a toothy smile as the camera flashed. "Thank you."

"Oh, good, it looks like you have everything under control here, Ms. Hammer," a graying man in a blue suit said as he walked into the room, using one hand to smooth down his red tie, the other holding a cup of coffee. "And this must be Ms. Porter. Oh, I remember you when you were a little girl. My have times flown by."

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Kaplan," Melody replied, taking his outstretched hand, shaking it. _Time certainly has flown by_, she thought. She remembered when Mr. Kaplan was principal of Angel Grove Elementary. He looked much younger then…and his hair didn't look as fake. Melody held back a smile of laughter as her eyes drifted upwards to his hair."

"Ms. Hammer will have your ID all ready for you by the time we get finish talking," Mr. Kaplan said. Ms. Hammer waved her hand in the air, stopping him from leaving and motioned for him to lean closer. Mr. Kaplan gave her a confused look before bending at the waist. Ms. Hammer nodded her head in Melody's direction before whispering something into his ear. "Oh, yes, I see." He then straightened, giving Melody a smile before motioning for her to follow him into his office. "I have to say, it is a joy to have a past member of the Angel Grove community return."

"Well, Angel Grove has always felt like home to me," Melody replied as she stepped into his office. _Geeze, how cheesy can I get_.

"That's wonderful to hear," Mr. Kaplan replied, as he set his cup of coffee down onto the desk before sitting down behind it. "Now, Ms. Hammer said that you would like to try out for the men's soccer team? The season has already started as you know-"

"Yes, sir, I know," Melody replied with a nod of her head. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well, it's going to be a bit of a challenge, I won't lie to you," Mr. Kaplan replied, folding his hands onto his desk, tapping it with his knuckles. "First, we have to discuss this with the coach as well as the conference to see if there are any rules against this. We'd just want to have all the bases covered, but if things work out, it's not going to be easy."

"Nothing ever is," Melody replied quietly.

"I beg your pardon?" Mr. Kaplan asked.

"Never mind," Melody replied with a shake of her head.

"Yes, well…" Mr. Kaplan let the sentence hang in the air. "Ms. Porter, I understand that you've been having trouble with your school work as of late." He lifted his hands to adjust the hair on his head. "I just want to impress upon you that here at Angel Grove High; we strive to prepare our students for their future. We offer college counseling in your senior year, but right now we'll just focus on your PSATs, which you'll be taking in November, and the ACT and SATs, which you will be taking in the spring."

"We also have a college counselor on the premises, which I suggest you start meeting up with as soon as possible. It doesn't hurt to start a college plan whenever you can. From what I've seen of your transcript, it looks like you've got a career in music or English ahead of you. Have you ever thought of becoming a teacher?"

"I don't know," Melody replied with a shrug. The corners of her lips turned downwards. "Haven't thought about my future at all that much, I guess."

"Well, we can help," Mr. Kaplan replied with a smile. "Welcome back to Angel Grove, Ms. Porter. I'm sure everyone will be happy to have you back in their classes."

"Thank you, Mr. Kaplan," Melody replied. "Is that all?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "I'm meeting my friends at this Pet Fair thing—"

"Ah yes," Mr. Kaplan said with a smile. "It's a senior class run event. A fine way to give back to the community. I'll let you go; however, I'd like to talk to you before school starts on Monday. Would it be alright for you to come in early tomorrow? We'll give you your class schedule and show you where to get your school books as well."

"Yes, sir, I can," Melody replied with a nod of her head before getting to her feet. "Thank you for seeing me today." She shook his hand a second time before making her way out of his office.

Ms. Hammer stopped her and gave her her student ID, locker number, lock, and locker combination. Melody gave her a nod of thanks before grabbing her backpack, shoving it all inside. She then headed outside and over to the bike rack, moving to unlock the bike locker as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She set her backpack down onto the ground and pulled her cell phone out, peering at the screen.

**Jason: **You on your way over? Kim's driving me crazy, knowing you're coming.

Melody rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she quickly fired back a text. _Typical, Kim. She gets excited over everything_.

**Melody: **On my way now. AG Park, right?

She got a response in seconds.

**Jason: **Yeah, see you then.

Melody put her phone back into her pocket, and quickly undid the lock to her bike, sliding it into her backpack. She pulled her bike out of the lines of metal, and climbed onto the seat. She then walked her bike around before heading down the sidewalk, pedaling in the direction of Angel Grove Park. The sun beat down in rays against the top of her head, shimmering through the waving leaves of the trees as a gentle breeze blew.

She made it to Angel Grove park minutes later, and glided her bike over the path, keeping her head on a swivel for where the Pet Fair was going to be set up. She spotted tables of cages in the distance, with balloons floating above them and headed towards it. As she got closer, she dropped her bike to the ground, and headed over to the group of tables.

She spotted a large sign hanging up between two trees that read: _ADOPT A PET TODAY! Sponsored by the Angel Grove Pound and Animal Shelter._ Melody saw row after row after row of animals in cages; birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, all making noises, trying to get the attention from a potential buyer. Kids ran around, pulling their parents behind them, giggling in excitement as they hurried over to the animals that they would potentially take home.

Melody stopped when she heard a small mewling sound by her. She turned and saw a black cat sitting in the cage. It peered up at her with green eyes, slowly blinking its eyes. Its whiskers twitched as it lifted a paw, resting it on one of the metal bars that lined the cage. Melody squatted down in front of the cage, reaching out a finger to stroke the soft fur.

"Hey," she said quietly. "What is a cat like you doing here?" The cat let out a quiet _meow _and pressed its face against the cage. It flicked out its rough tongue and gently licked her fingers. "How could someone not want to take care of you?" The cat put its paw down and sat back, shaking its head before licking its forepaw, running it over its face.

"_Come adopt a pet today_! _Bring home a new addition to your family_."

Melody looked up when she heard Jason's familiar voice above the crowd of voices. Melody glanced back at the cat before heading in their direction. She adjusted her backpack on her back when she spotted him, making his way over towards him.

"Hey, Jase," she called over to him.

Jason looked up from the clipboard he held in his hands, before setting it down, giving her a wide smile. "Hey, Mel," he greeted her. "Glad you could make it." He then held his hand out towards her and Melody paused for a minute before slapping his palm with hers. She slid her hand back against his rough palm before turning her hand into a fist, bumping it against his. Their 'secret' handshake. She couldn't remember the last time they had done it. "How was everything at school?"

"Didn't know they started lectures so early," Melody joked. "So, it seems like this adoption thing is a big hit."

"I'm actually kind of surprised how many people have turned out," Jason replied with a nod of his head. "But, there are a lot of animals here; I'm hoping that all of them can find a good home."

"Is it possible to reserve a pet or something?" Melody asked, setting her backpack down onto the ground. Jason gave her a confused look. "Remember? I said that I wanted to get a cat or something to take home." Jason gave a brief nod of his head. "Well, I'm not planning on heading home for a little while, but I saw this cat over there that I was thinking about getting, but I didn't know if I could, like, stake a claim or—ugh!"

Melody stumbled when a heavy force careened into her. She realized in a second that Kimberly Hart had nearly knocked her over in a tight hug. The small brunette took a step back, using her hands to brush her hair back behind her ears.

"Still clumsy I see," Kimberly teased, crossing her arms over her chest, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Oh, please," Melody said with a teasing grin. "You were the one that knocked me over. If there's anyone I'm worried about being clumsy, it's you Mrs. Flip-Flop. I thought gymnasts were always about grace and poise." Melody stood up on her tiptoes. Kimberly stuck her tongue out at Melody, swatting her side. Melody laughed, dropping down on the balls of her feet before accepting Kimberly's second hug. "How are you?"

"Great," Kimberly replied, before taking another step back. She had a tight grip on Melody's arms and looked her up and down. "You _look_ great, too! How are you? And is that an accent I hear?"

"Yeah, dad and I stayed in Mississippi a _little_ too long for my liking," Melody replied with a small laugh, shrugging her shoulders. Her "I"s were more drawn out and sounded more nasally. "Guess I picked it up a little bit when I was there. She scratched at the back of her neck. "So, I hear you have a boyfriend." Kimberly gave a bright smile, biting on her lower lip.

"I'll leave you two to your girl talk," Jason said, looking back and forth between the two girls. "I'll go find Zack, Trini, and Billy, and tell them you're here." He set down his pen before stepping away from the table, heading away at a jog.

"Sooo, tell me everything," Kimberly said, with a small squeal. "Where've you stayed? How've you been? How was the move back? Do you have a boyfriend? Everything."

"Ok, let's see if I can still do this," Melody said, rubbing her hands together, pretending to prepare herself to answer questions. Kimberly laughed. "Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, I've been great, just tired from the long move. The move was…long, but it was pretty scenic, know, I don't have a boyfriend, nor did I _ever_ have a boyfriend, and if I told you everything, we'd be standing here for a _long _time." Melody then tilted her head to the side. "But, I want to hear about _your _boyfriend. Tommy right?"

"Tommy Oliver, yeah," Kimberly replied, a fond smile coming to her face. "I could go on and on about him." She let out a sigh and Melody quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm sure you could," Melody said and the two of them started to laugh. She then looked over her shoulder and saw Jason walking up with Billy Cranston and Trini Kwan. "Heyyy!" She hurried over to her two friends and gave them a tight hug.

"Oh, Mel, it's so good to see you again," Trini added, rubbing her friend's back.

"Salutations," Billy said with a smile.

"You guys, too," Melody said, leaning into Billy's side, giving him a tight hug. She then stepped back and spread open her arms, looking around. "This pet adoption thing is pretty cool. Mr. Kaplan told me it was a senior class thing."

"Yes, it's a project for community service," Billy replied, using a finger to push his glasses up his nose. He then slid his hands into his jeans pockets. "You see, every year at school the classes partake in an extracurricular assignment that betters the community at large."

"It's to help the community," Trini said, spotting the look on Melody's face.

"Gotcha," Melody replied with a nod of her head. "So, where's Zack?"

"He's running late, but he should be here soon," Jason said, twisting up his arm to look at his watch before scanning the area.

"So, do I just take one of these animals home or…do I have to sign it out, or what?" Melody asked, putting her hand on her hip. "I'd be happy to help you guys out."

"It's very important that we try and find all of these animals a safe home for them," Trini said, clasping her hands together. "Did you find something you had in mind?"

"Yeah, there was this cat I saw back over there," Melody replied, turning to point in the direction of the cage she had left behind. "It's black…green eyes. No one's reserved it or anything, have they?" She then waved for them to follow her. She led the way over to the row of cages and patted the top of the cage with the black cat in it. It jumped to its feet, looking over at Melody with wide eyes, letting out a loud _mrrow_.

"Hey, I think it likes you, Mel," Kimberly said with a smile, sticking her finger into the cage to stroke its flank.

"Nope, no one's chosen him, yet," Jason replied, shifting through the paper on the clipboard in his hands. He grabbed a pen from the table and paused, holding the pen above the clipboard. "Are you _sure_ you can take him home? A cat is a lot of responsibility."

"On the contrary, felines are more of the independent variety," Billy replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Its part of their natural instinct. Although, there are a plethora of debates regarding which are better, felines or canines, which have—"

"Cats are easier to take care of," Trini said, putting a hand on Billy's shoulder and Billy gave a nod of his head.

"I think I'll be ok, but, thanks," Melody replied, giving Billy a nod look. _I completely forgot about that_, she thought to herself, reaching to unlock the cage. She reached inside and looped her arm around the cat's stomach, carefully lifting him out of the cage before cradling him against her chest.

"Ok, then before you leave, just head over that front table over there," Jason said as he put the pen in his hands behind his ears before pointing across the park, "and you'll get everything squared away. There's a lady there that specializes with cats, she'll tell you all about carriers and cat litter and stuff like that."

"What are you going to name him?" Kimberly asked.

Melody glanced up at the sky, her eyebrows lowering as a thoughtful look crossed her face. She then lifted the cat into the air, above her head before settling him back down into her chest. "Well, considering this little guy is a male, I think Ebony or Midnight are out," she commented. "Hmmm."

_Jaeger._

"What about Jaeger?" she asked, smiling as she could feel the cat purring with delight. "I think he looks like a Jaeger."

"How'd you come up with that name?" Jason asked.

"I kind of just came to me," Melody replied with a shrug.

"Hi, Jaeger," Kimberly said in a high pitched voice, reaching out for the black cat. She jumped when Jaeger let out a hiss, revealing it's sharp teeth as he swiped its paw at Kimberly as well. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Melody, who cringed as she slid her fingernails over the cat's back. "Maybe he needs to be declawed or something."

"I've been saying that for years now, but no one seemed to want to listen to me," Zachary 'Zack' Taylor said with a grin as he walked up to the group, adjusting his sweatshirt, brushing some leaves off of his shoulders. He gave Melody a grin. "Hey, Mellie-Mean."

"Five seconds and you're already starting to dig in on me?" Melody asked, her eyebrows shooting up before she stepped forward to give him a one-armed hug before punching him on the arm. "Phasers on stun, Zalien, I come in peace."

"Hey, I had to get one in before you did," Zack replied, putting his hands up defensively.

"Hey, come on guys, cool it," Jason said, stepping between the two of them. He put up his hands, looking back and forth between the two of them as if he expected the two o them to jump at each other.

"He started it," Melody replied, a smile coming to her face, her eyebrow twitching. Jason rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Zack, are you still dancing?"

"Why?" Zack asked, "Do you need lessons?"

"Touché," Melody commented as Jason shot Zack an annoyed look. She tilted her head to the side, slowly smiling at him. "So, why were you late? I figured meeting up with little ol' me would've had you here early."

"I got stuck having to mow the lawn this morning," Zack replied with a shake of his head. "I've been falling behind my chores lately because of Rit—" He trailed off when Kimberly loudly cleared her throat, and Jason shook his head back and forth. Melody looked back and forth between the two of them and Zack lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head. "Because of video games and stuff."

"I know how that is," Melody agreed. She blinked when sunlight bounced off of the bracelet on his arm. She then looked around at everybody's hands, noticing that they all had some. "Hey, nice bracelets. Where'd you get them?"

"Uhhh," Billy stalled, looking over at Trini out of the corner of his eye.

"The mall," Kimberly instantly blurted out. "There's this really cool place there that makes a whole bunch of stuff out of scrap metal." She brushed her hands over her pink striped one. She remembered seeing Jason's the other day and it had red strips on his. "It's pretty rad. They were on sale, too."

"Kim's great at spotting sales," Trini said, putting her hands on Kimberly's shoulders.

"Yeah, and, I'll go see if I can find you one, too," Kimberly added before looking her friend up and down. "In purple, right?" Melody looked down at her purple flannel shirt, t-shirt, and purple shoe laces.

"Yeah," she agreed. "That's be awesome, Kim. Thanks."

"Consider it a 'Welcome Home' gift," Kimberly replied with a smile before suddenly letting out a loud gasp. "Or an early birthday gift. Your birthday's the sixteenth, right?" Melody nodded her head and Kimberly grasped Jason's wrist before looking around at her friends. "Guys, we should totally do something for her birthday."

"No, you really don't have to," Melody said with a shake of her head. "It's fine. I don't really celebrate my birthday, anyway."

"Who doesn't celebrate their birthday?" Zack asked, his eyes widening. "It's like…an excuse to parrrrty!" Melody silently looked over at Jason, widening her eyes slightly into a pleading look. He gave a slight nod of his head.

"Uh, guys," Jason said, scratching at the side of his nose, "it's really not a big deal." She put her hand on Zack's shoulder, gently shaking him. "If she doesn't want to celebrate, she doesn't want to celebrate." Melody gave him a smile of thanks and he mouthed, 'You're welcome' back at her. "But, now's not the time to talk about it. We have a lot of pets that still need to find a home, and we also have two more hours until our shifts are over."

"Mind if I tag along?" Melody asked, moving to put Jaeger back into his cage. He yowled in protest before she managed to put him back inside, closing and locking it behind him. She watched, confused as Jaeger stalked around in a circle before dropping to the bottom of the cage with a _thump_, his tail swishing back and forth, keeping its green eyes on Jaeger. "Dad's getting everything worked out before he starts tomorrow, so it'd just be me at home."

"Sure, it'll be fun," Trini said with a bright smile as the group made their way across the grass. Jason stopped to quickly rest a quickly written out RESERVED sign against the cat's cage. "We were planning on going to the Youth Center afterwards. We could have a shake, get caught up."

"Sounds good, I'll just let my dad know," Melody replied, reaching for her phone.

"Excellent," Billy said.

"Do you need a ride home, though?" Jason asked, falling into step beside her. You said you rode your bike over." He slid his hands into his jeans pockets. A look of realization crossed her face. "The Youth Center isn't a long bike ride from here, but with your new cat and everything, we could just put it all in my truck."

"Jase that'd be great," Melody said, putting a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it. "Thank you." She then lowered her voice and added, "And thanks for…back there, with the birthday thing." Not only was he the one to know about her mom's passing, but he also knew that she had passed away around her birthday. Neither she nor her dad ever really felt like celebrating after it had happened.

"No problem," Jason replied, giving her his lopsided smile. "That's what friends are for." He then nudged her with his elbow before he sped up his pace to fall into step with Zack, starting to rib him about being late.

"I saw that," Kimberly said in a sing song voice as she and Trini fell back to talk with Melody.

"Saw what?" Melody asked, lowering her phone to look over at them. She peered closely at Kimberly and then her eyes widened. "Oh, no! I recognize that look, Kimberly Hart." She pointed a warning finger in her friend's face. "I may not have seen it for six years, but I know that look. That's your meddling face. There's nothing going on between me and Jason."

"I didn't say there was," Kimberly replied with a shrug, the smile never leaving her face. "I just said 'I saw that'." Melody rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "So you're telling me, you don't like Jason, at all? Apart from being a friend, I mean."

"Well-"

"I seem to remember you having a crush on him when we were younger," Trini replied.

"Trini…_you_ had a crush on him when we were younger," Melody replied before turning to face Kimberly, her hair swinging around her from the movement. "And so did _you_."

"Details," Kimberly said, waving her hand in the air. "You guys would be cute together, that's all I'm saying."

"Kim…when it comes to you and boys…you never 'just say' anything," Melody said, using air quotes. She put her arm around Kimberly's shoulders. "That's something I _haven't_ missed over the years." Kimberly let out a gasp before shoving Melody away from her, laughing. Melody stumbled backwards, colliding with something big and solid behind her.

"Watch it, dweeb," a voice snarled behind her, before she was shoved from behind. Melody turned, her eyes narrowing at the rotund boy behind her.

"Yeah," the skinny boy said before letting out a nasally laugh, gnawing on a piece of gum, "watch it dweeb."

"Maybe you'd like to apologize, dork," the bigger guy snarled, stepping forward with a large foot. He cupped a hand around his ear. "Go on. I'm listening."

"Sorry," Melody said, taken a back. Her eyes narrowed slightly into a squint as she looked at the two of them. _They look so familiar_.

"You better be," the boy snapped before lifting the sunglasses off of his nose, jamming them into his hair. "Watch where you're going." He started laughing a little bit. "Or does Dweebitis affect your balance?"

"Yeah," the skinnier boy said with a grin, "Dweebitis."

"Bulk, Skull, leave her alone," Trini said with a shake of her head, planting her hands on her hips. Melody blinked in surprise as she looked at the two boys. Bulk and Skull. She remembered them alright. Six years hadn't changed their attitudes much, if at all. "It was an accident. Kim pushed her and—"

"The only excuse I want to hear is why I haven't gotten a pet yet," Bulk said, crossing his arms over his wide chest, emphasizing his protruding stomach even more. "This whole 'adoption day' thing is supposed to provide us with pets, and yet I haven't found anything that is….me!" He grasped onto his jacket and puffed out his chest, grinning.

"The day's not over yet, Bulk," Trini replied, leaning forward to pat his arm. Bulk's upper lip curled, and he brushed her and away. "I'm sure we could find even you a great pet." She then turned on her heels, following after the boys, shaking her head.

"You know, they've really changed since I've left," Melody said and Kimberly let out a tinkling laugh. "Guess I was wrong. Angel Grove hasn't changed so much since I've left."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kimberly prompted.

"A good thing," Melody replied before capping her hands together. "Now, tell me more about these Power Rangers I keep hearing so much about."

Trini and Kimberly shared a smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, you guys. Thanks for taking the time to check out this fic and (maybe?) reviewing. I hope you're enjoying it so far. I'm really excited to get to, what I call, "the good stuff" with this fic. I haven't decided whether or not this is going to be another series just yet, but right now, I'm leaning towards there at least being a sequel.

Thanks to _grapejuice101 _for your advice about the quotes and thanks to _tmyster4820,_ _snake screamer, __grapejuice101, ghostwriter, XoxMountainGirlxoX _and _i love power rangers 7135 _for your feedback about the first chapter.

**~HypnoticMelody~**


	3. A Pig Surprise

_"I can never have a poker face. Anybody looking at me can tell exactly what I'm thinking." -Gena Rowlands_

* * *

**03:**

_A Pig Surprise_

Melody yawned as she sat, slumped, in the seat in front of Mr. Kaplan's desk as she waited for him to return with her class schedule for the semester and her list of school books needed. She rubbed at her tired burning eyes, blinking rapidly, trying to keep herself awake.

She wouldn't have been so tired had it not been for still unpacking, and having her new cat making noise all through the night. She understood that Jaeger wasn't used to the new environment, and she knew that she had dodged a bullet with getting him a scratching post before bringing him home or she most likely would have had nothing to wear the next day.

"Ah, here we go," Mr. Kaplan said with a bright smile as he came into his office, closing the door behind him. He smoothed his hand down the front of his suit before adjusting his tie. He sat down across from her, setting down the paper in his hands before folding his hands on top of it. Melody blinked rapidly, sitting up straighter in her seat. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting long, there were some last few adjustments we needed to add to your schedule after taking a closer look at your transcript."

"Yes, sir?" Melody prompted.

"Well, we've granted you access into the senior English class," Mr. Kaplan replied, lifting his hands up to adjust the hair on his head. "We've received permission from the band director to allow you to spend some of your study hall periods preparing for your classes and performances. However, this privilege will be taken away if, for whatever reason, your grades start suffering."

"Yes, sir, I understand," Melody replied with a smile and a nod of her head. She twisted her fingers together in her lap. "What have you decided about the soccer team?"

"We're still working out the semantics, Miss Porter," Mr. Kaplan replied. He cleared his throat. "In the meantime, might I suggest your participation in another extracurricular activity that Angel Grove has t offer? I've talked to Ms. Appleby, your English teacher, you remember her of course—"

"Of course," Melody replied, her smile widening a little more. Ms. Appleby had actually been her elementary school teacher for a couple years. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have found an interest in writing.

"Well, have you ever considered being a newspaper journalist?" Mr. Kaplan asked. "You see, the high school's newspaper, _The Angelette_, has been through a tough rebuilding year. Both Ms. Appleby and I think you'd be a great addition to the paper."

"I don't know," Melody slowly replied. "I've been more into creative writing—"

"Well, that's perfect," Mr. Kaplan said, spreading his arms out to his sides. "What better way to spruce up the newspaper than with a creative mind."

Melody opened and closed her mouth, mentally kicking herself. _I walked myself right into that one_, she thought with a brief shake of her head. She put a hand over her mouth, holding back a yawn. "I wouldn't even know what to write about, I mean, I'm…basically, new to Angel Grove," Melody protested.

"At least consider it," Mr. Kaplan said, rapping the desk with his knuckles. "Now, here's your schedule, listed at the top is your homeroom teacher, who you'll be reporting to every day, and your class schedule listed below. If you notice, your classes don't meet at the same time every day. This is a new class schedule we're working with this year to compensate for class periods missed due to sporting events."

Melody glanced down and saw that instead of the schedule listed as Monday through Friday, it was labeled as A through F Days. Every day was a new order of scheduled classes, study halls, and free periods; none of the classes met at the same time every day and some met more frequently during the week than others did.

"And today would be…?" Melody asked, looking up at Mr. Kaplan.

"C Day," Mr. Kaplan said, pointing at the schedule with his finger. "So, right after home room you'll be making your way to Ms. Appleby's English class." He gave a little laugh. "What luck!"

_Riiiight_. Melody thought, slowly nodding. _It has to be illegal to be this perky this early in the morning. _

"Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to the school store to get your books," Mr. Kaplan said , getting to his feet, clasping his hands together. "I'll give you a tour of the school as well." He swung his arm out to the side, motioning for Melody to walk in front of him. She grabbed her backpack and swung it over one shoulder before making her way out of the room.

As she waited in the administrative office for Mr. Kaplan, she watched as some students started making their way into the school. She spotted Kimberly instantly as she came into the school, head tilted to the side as she wrung out her damp, stringy hair, shortly followed by Zack who hurried to catch up with her, gently grabbing her shoulder to get her attention. Kimberly greeted Zack with a bright smile and the two of them started to talk about something.

Melody twisted her mouth to the side as she watched them. She was happy to be with her friends again, but being away those six years, she didn't think she'd really ever be back in the group. A lot had changed in the six years she could assume, but a lot had changed with her as well.

"Right this way, Miss Porter," Mr. Kaplan said as he guided her out of the office. "Just down this hall are the junior and senior lockers, with the sophomore and freshmen on the other side of the school. The senior lockers are on the bottom floor and taking the stairs, you'll get to the junior lockers." He waved his arm to the right, indicating the lockers lining the right and left of the halls as well as the perpendicular hall connecting to it, forming a T, with lockers on the left and right of the stairwell.

"Also on this side of the school you'll have all of your English and History classes. Arts and Sciences are held on the other side of the school with the bands, chorus, strings, and theater meeting at the back. Through these doors, is the outside sitting area, with the cafeteria, gym, and theater just in the distance."

She followed him through the school until they came up to a room lined with shelves of poster board, notebooks, cases of pens, pencils, an erasers, as well as a wall lined with sweatshirts bearing the words Angel Grove, or AGH, as well as pom-poms in blue and white, and other paraphernalia for the school. A woman with wild, frizzy brown hair and glasses was sitting behind a computer, behind a white circular counter cluttered with papers, a phone with blinking lights on it, and some boxes.

"Mrs. Bassett, we're here to pick up Ms. Porter's school supplies," Mr. Kaplan said as he knocked on the doorframe to the school.

"Ah, yes, I was expecting you," Mrs. Bassett said with a smile, looking up from her computer to push her glasses up her nose with her finger. She stood up and reached for a stack of books, and notebooks, topped with a calculator, some pens and pencils, all strapped together with a large rubber band, before holding it out to Melody. "Here you go. Now, would you be paying for these or would you be charging these to your account?"

"Uhhh," Melody said, taken aback. "Paying, I guess. Is it better to have an account?" She slid her backpack down her shoulder, unzipping a pocket to retrieve her purple, flower print wallet.

"Well, you'd still be paying for everything, you'd just have a balance in the system, say $50 dollars," Mrs. Bassett said as she turned towards her computer, and started typing. "We keep track of what you bought and how much spending money you have left, and we'll tell you when you're running low. You're still paying for everything. You're just, in a way, paying it all up front." She gave Melody a peaceful smile, turning to face her before reaching for a stack of paper attached to a clipboard. "Just fill out this form, and turn it back into me with cash or check deposit, and we'll set up your account."

"Thank you," Melody replied before unzipping her backpack, shoving her books inside. She then took the form and folded I in half before placing it inside as well. She glanced over at the bright green numbers displaying the total of her purchases and gave a sigh as she pulled some bills out of her wallet. _It's a good thing I start work, today_.

She got a receipt for her books before following Mr. Kaplan back out of the room. She was directed to her locker, and glanced at her schedule to see which books she needed before placing her books inside, keeping the ones she needed for her English class before putting her lock on it. Mr. Kaplan bade her farewell before making his way back down to the administrative offices.

Melody let out a breath of air before closing her locker door, sliding her lock through the hole in the door before snapping it shut. She looked around at her classmates as they all conversed with each other, talking and laughing, before she made her way down the stairs to try and find her homeroom class. She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs when she saw a large group had formed in the hallway.

She spotted Kimberly and Jason at the edge of the circle and made her way over to them. "Hey, guys," she greeted the two of them, keeping her eyes on the circle before she turned towards her friends as Jason leaned up against the locker beside Kimberly's.

"Hey," Kimberly said with a warm smile. "We came early to show you around the school but we couldn't find you." Melody blinked in surprise before relaxing the muscles in her face.

"Oh, well, Mr. Kaplan kept going on and on about integrity-this, and honor-that and…that's a pig," Melody said, pointing over at Bulk who was crouched on the ground, with a pot bellied pig sitting in front of him. Squeals and grunts split the air as it ate popcorn that he laid down on the ground. "He's feeding a pig. In the middle of the school. Where'd he get a pig?"

"From the Pet Fair, apparently," Kimberly replied as she turned back towards her locker. She reached into her locker for her school books, putting them into her backpack. She twisted her mouth to the side, cringing a little bit. "Is it bad that I think it suits him?" Jason laughed quietly before pressing his lips together.

"He seems to want to take good care of it, so that's good," he replied with a brief shrug.

"But, this _has _to be against school rules," Melody commented and Jason arched an eyebrow.

"Since when do you care about rules?" he asked. He tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I always thought you said rules were meant to be broken."

"They are," Melody replied with a smirk. "Or at least they were made with some sort of loophole in mind, which I will find." Jason shook his head, briefly rolling his eyes, the smile still on his face. "So, I have my first shift at the Youth Center after school today. Would you guys be willing to help me give the place good service?"

"You got the job?" Kimberly asked, her eyes popping open.

"Yeah, Ernie called me this morning," Melody replied with a smile. "I'm heading over there right after school."

The other day, right after they had left the Pet Fair, Melody had headed over to the Youth Center with her friends.

"Wow." Melody had gasped as she looked around the Youth Center. She shook her head back and forth. "Now this place is awesome. It looks so much better than I remembered it." She looked around at the weight lifting machines, to the mini arcade, and then to the Juice Bar. She held a folder tightly in her hands.

"Ernie's over there," Jason had said, pointing out the older man as he made his way through the tables of the Juice Bar, as he balanced a tray of smoothies on one arm.

"Whoa," Melody had commented in a low tone, her eyebrows crinkling together in the center. "Ernie got big." She watched as Ernie came to the table he was delivering the order to, his protruding stomach leading the way. He had greeted the customers with a smile before he had taken part in a short conversation with them before he had gone to take another customer's order. "He's been running this place all by himself?"

"Yeah, Ernie's great," Kimberly had said as she squeezed past her. "We'll go get a table."

"Ok, I'll be there in a little bit," Melody had replied.

"I offer you the best of luck," Billy had said to her before following Kimberly over to a table at the juice bar. As they had gotten settled, they reached for a stack of menus on the table.

Melody had sucked in a breath of air before she had made her way over to the owner of the Gym and Juice Bar. "Uh, excuse me, Ernie?" Ernie turned towards me, after he had finished taking the order from a table of sweaty men.

"How can I help you?" Ernie had asked, giving her a smile, speaking with what she had assumed was a New York accent.

"Are you hiring?" Melody had asked and Ernie's eyebrows had shot up. "I would like to apply for a job. I've worked in a restaurant before." She had handed him the folder in her hands. "Mainly just waitressing, but I'm willing to learn and if you give me a chance, I won't let you down."

Ernie had squinted at her. "Why do you look familiar to me?" he had asked and Melody gave a half smile.

"Oh, I haven't been here in a while," she had said before offering her hand. "I'm Melody. Melody Porter."

"Melody Porter," Ernie had whispered before his face lit up. "Little Mellie?" Melody had tried hard not to cringe at the name, but gave a no of her head. "I haven't seen you since you were this big." He had lifted his hand and placed it out by his side, to indicate how tall she had been. "Let me just finish their order and then step into the back with me."

The interview had gone well, or at least she had thought it did, with Ernie stating over and over again, how he couldn't believe how much she had grown, as well as wanting to know what she had been up to over the years. She had been asked the usual questions: "How long did you work at your previous job", "Why did you leave your previous job?", "What hours are you looking to work?", "Are you available for a week of training?" and thought she had composed herself well.

"Of course we'll come and help you out," Zack said with a grin, clapping her on the shoulder as he walked up to her.

"Please!" Melody said, looking over at him. "Your version of helping will be to heckle me." She then dropped her voice an octave to mimic him. "This smoothie is too cold, there are not enough strawberries." She then grinned, gently smacking his side with the back of her hand. "I've seen you do it before."

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," Zack said with a laugh, rubbing his hands together. Jason shoved his shoulder as Kimberly closed her locker door and said, "Zack, be nice. Don't ruin this for her." Zack put his hands up defensively, but kept the smile on his face.

"Just be careful of what you say," Jason advised, running his fingers through his hair. "If I remember correctly, you tend not to…think when you get mad enough." An amused look crossed his face. "Or was it another black haired, blue eyed girl that told that main at the Angel Grove Fair that you wished he got a heart attack just because he bumped into you with a Hostess Cupcake?"

"So, that wasn't one of my best moments in life," Melody said with a shrug and a roll of her eyes. "Sue me." She then glanced down at her schedule as a loud bell rang and students started rushing around, breaking up into groups as they headed down the halls to their classes. "I'm looking for room 135? And then…142 for English."

"You're in our English class?" Kimberly asked, bouncing on her toes. "Great, we'll save you a seat." She then pointed a pink nail polish covered finger down the hall. "Room 135 is just down there."

"Thanks, Kim," Melody replied, giving her friend a smile. As she headed towards the classroom where her homeroom was, she heard Zack say behind her, "Have you guys seen Bulk anywhere? Rumor has it he had a pig with him."

"Yeah, he just left," she heard Kimberly reply. Melody could practically see the look of disgust on Kimberly's face evident by her tone. "It was pretty gross."

"What's up?" Jason asked. "You look worried."

Whatever it was that Zack answered, she couldn't hear as the classroom door closed behind her. Melody looked around the room before making her way towards the back of the room, dropping her backpack to the floor by her feet just as her teacher started going through roll call.

"Melody Porter?"

"Here," Melody replied, lifting her hand into the air, giving a brief wave. And she was here to stay, for how long she didn't know.

* * *

"Can we get our sandwiches, please?"

Melody grit her teeth, sucking in a deep breath of air before turning towards Bulk who was standing at the counter of the Juice Bar. He had his arms crossed tightly over his chest, and exaggeratedly tapped the floor with his foot.

"Yeah," Skull added, slamming his hand down onto the counter. "We've got a hungry pig waiting for food!"

Melody looked back and forth between Bulk and Skull before peering over the counter to see their pet pig, who they called Norman, sitting on the ground, it's wet snout glistening as it sniffed along the floor, looking for scraps of food to eat. _Is he talking about Bulk or the pig_? She thought to herself.

"You can't have a pig in here," Melody said, looking up at Bulk.

"Oh yeah?" he laughed. Skull joined in with him a moment later. "And are _you _going to be the one who to stop me?" He then reached out a hand and flicked Melody's nose.

"Hey!" Melody cried, rubbing at her nose. "I'm telling you right now, Bulk, to get rid of the pig."

"Yeah, yeah," Bulk said, waving his hand in the air before stomping off to get a table. "Just hurry up with our sandwiches, and get us a couple of milkshakes, too."

"Yeah, a couple of milkshakes, too," Skull repeated before following Bulk over to the table. Melody watched as they sat down and then started to fuss over the pig.

"Coming right up," Melody replied, giving a mock salute before turning towards the freezer to get a tub of ice cream. She then headed to the refrigerator to get milk before setting them both down on the back counter before reaching for the blender. As soon as she had that going, she went back to finish Bulk and Skull's sandwich order, adding lettuce, tomato, and onions.

_Ernie sure wasn't kidding when he said I'd be training_, she thought to herself. She had thought training meant that he would be shadowing her as she learned the ropes of working the establishment. As soon as she had walked through the doors of the Youth Center, there were already patrons being waited on.

Ernie handed her an apron and a name tag before showing her how to clock in and out of work before sending her out to start working. He did help her run the cash register, and show her how to make some of the ordered meals she didn't know how to work. Luckily, sandwiches and milkshakes were easy to make but she knew, eventually, someone would order something even more challenging than that. She was tired by the end of the school day, she knew she was going to be exhausted after she was done with work, too.

"How was your first day of school?" Ernie asked as he shuffled into the back to turn off the blender for the milkshake. He grasped a spoon and dipped it into the milkshake before putting into his mouth.

"It was pretty good," Melody replied moving to get a knife before reaching for the jar of mustard. "I didn't have all of my classes today, so I don't really know how I'll like them." She put her knife into the mustard and spread it over the underside of the top slide of bread. "I spent a lot of my free periods just walking around the school, looking to see where everything was."

"Most people would be stressed out knowing they're starting school after the semester started," Ernie said as he set down the spoon before opening the cabinet doors above them to retrieve two glasses. "I think you'll be ok."

"Thanks, Ernie," Melody replied, spreading on more mustard.

"Where's Jason and the gang?" Ernie asked as he started to pour the milkshake into the glasses. "They're normally here by now."

"I don't know, to be honest," Melody replied, setting the knife aside before closing the sandwich, moving to grab a plate to put it on. "Do they come here, that often?"

"They're some of my best customers," Ernie replied. "Sandwiches done?" Melody nodded. "Good. Go serve the sandwiches and I'll be right behind you with the milkshakes."

"Ok," Melody nodded before grabbing a tray from the stack, putting the plates of sandwiches on the tray. She carefully balanced the tray on her hand and carefully made her way over to Bulk and Skull's table. "Alright, one turkey and beef with lettuce, tomato, and onions, and one roast beef with three cheese, and tomato, both with ketchup, mustard, and mayo."

"It's about time," Skull said before grasping his sandwich, taking a large, tearing bite out of it, spilling the contents and condiments onto the table. Melody made a face of disgust as he chewed noisily, with his mouth open. "Deee_licious_."

"It's alright," Bulk said around a mouthful of his sandwich, bits of it hanging out of his mouth. "Here, Norman. Why don't you try some?" He then turned his sandwich over towards the pig, which let out a loud snort and took even sloppier bites from the sandwich. "He seems to like it."

"Great," Melody replied with the most pleasant smile she could muster. "But, you can't have this pig in here. It's a health code violation."

"He's not 'this pig'," Bulk said with a glare, using air quotes before pulling some of his partially chewed sandwich out of his mouth, putting it back onto his plate. "He's Norman, and he's my buddy." A weird smile then came to his face. "He's a total babe magnet."

"Yeah right," Melody said with a roll of her eyes.

"It brought _you _over here, didn't it?" Skull asked, elbowing Bulk in the side.

"Good point," Bulk replied before he gave Melody a smile. "Say, uh, how would you like to hang out with us handsome young men this weekend?"

Melody was saved from answering when Ernie came over with the tray of milkshakes. He placed the two of them down onto the counter, spotted Norman, and then threw his arms into the air. "What is this?" he asked, indicating the pig.

"_That's _a pig," Skull replied with a proud smile. "His name is Norman."

Ernie pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know _that_," he said through gritted teeth. "Why is it in here? You can't bring a pig in here." He started flapping his hands in Norman's direction, trying to drive him out. "Get him out of here."

"I tried to tell them," Melody said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Just take him outside, he's going to make a mess," Ernie said, running his hands over his face.

"Ernie, chill," Bulk said, with a roll of his eyes, "he's not going to—" He turned to look in Norman's direction, when he suddenly changed in a burst of orange light. In Norman's place was a pig with a large mouth, standing on its two hind legs, arms flailing back and forth as it looked around, tongue flopping out of its mouth.

"Make a mess," Skull said in a dazed tone as he stared, wide eyed at the monster.

The other patrons of the Youth Center started screaming, jumping out of their chairs to hurry out of the exits. Bulk and Skull jumped to their feet a split second later, screaming, knocking milkshakes over, causing it to drop off the side of the table, creating a puddle onto the floor.

"Rita's attacking," Ernie shouted into Melody's ear, grabbing her arm. "Come on, this way. Hurry."

A jolt of fear shocked Melody's body as she felt her jaw drop, staring at the monster. Ernie pulled her across the floor as she watched the monster corner Bulk and Skull, who still had their sandwiches in their hands.

"Wait," Melody cried, trying to pull her arm from their grasp. "Bulk and Skull! We have to help them." She managed to pull her arm from Ernie's grasp as he continued to rush out the back door as fast as he could. She stopped and looked around to see Bulk and Skull trying to make themselves smaller in the corner of the Juice Bar as the monster approached them, waving its arms, trying to reach them.

"Hungry, give me the food," the monster said in a nasally tone.

_Or just their food_, Melody thought to herself. She looked around and saw that she still had some bread and sandwich fixings lying out. She hurried over to the food, sliding to a stop in front of it and made another sandwich as quickly as possible. She grabbed it in her hands and turned to face the monster.

"Hey!" she tried, to shout, but it came out more like an uncertain call. She grabbed a tomato off of the counter and threw it at the back of the pig's head, missing it, hitting the wall with a loud _SPLAT _instead. The monster whirled around, fixing it's beady eyes on Melody. "Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!"

"Food! Food! Gimme, gimmie," the pig cried as it inched closer towards her.

Melody's heart hammered in her chest as she held the food out to the monster with a shaky hand, slowly backing away from it. The pig continued to swing it's arms back and forth, it's tongue dripping saliva on the floor. Melody squeezed her eyes shut and shoved the sandwich into its mouth, gagging as its hot breath rolled over her arm. She pulled back, her arm nearly getting caught in its clamped jaws and made a noise of disgust as ropes of spit hung off her arms.

"Ugh! Gross me out," she groaned, wiping her arm off onto her apron.

"Mmmm, yummy!" the pig said, rubbing at its stomach before turning back towards Bulk and Skull who were still cowering in the corner.

"Just give him the sandwich." Melody turned to see Zack sneak in through the back door, an alarmed expression on his face as he looked from Bulk and Skull, over to her, and then at the pig. "He's only hungry. Just give the sandwich before he gets angry."

"Here, piggy," Bulk said, holding his sandwich out to the pig. With a loud snort, the pig snatched at the sandwich before stuffing it into his mouth,

"Alright, pig, you got what you wanted, not beat it!" Zack said, curling his hands into fists. "Before I beat you." The pig let out a belch before disappearing in an orange light. He then dropped his arms down by his sides, letting out a sigh. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Bulk said, getting to his feet, hauling Skull up after him. His voice was more high pitched. He brushed off his clothes before clearing his throat. "We're just uh…"

"Going to take another peek at that pig book," Skull said with a grin before the two of them ran out of the building as fast as they could.

Zack chuckled, turning towards Melody. "You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Melody replied, continuing to wipe off her arm, shivering. "So, that's one of Rita's monsters then?" Zack gave a nod of his head. "Well, you seemed to know how to handle it."

"Trust me, some of the monsters are meaner and uglier," Zack replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I've seen this guy around before, he just gets hungry. Scare him off, and you'll have no problem." Then a serious look crossed his face. "But, don't try that with any other monsters."

"Hopefully, they won't hang out around here," Melody replied. "Thanks, Zack. You came just in time.

"Well, I hurried over to tell you that we were going to be late, something came up," Zack said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm just glad I got here in time." He gaze a small laugh. "Some first day, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, I can already imagine telling this to my dad," Melody added with a snort. She lowered her voice, her eyebrow dripping down to create a masculine look. "_Now, sweetheart, how was your day at school_?" She then bobbed her head from side to side. "Well, dad, it was…a surprise."

"A _pig _surprise?" Zack asked and Melody rolled her eyes.

"Your jokes are still so corny," she said, shoving his shoulder. She sighed. "This place sure is different."

"Yeah, but you'll get used to it," Zack agreed with a shrug. "What with the Power Rangers hanging around, there isn't a minute where you don't feel safe."

"Hey, it would've been cool if they showed up here," Melody said with a smile, her eyes flashing. "Well, you better get back to what you're doing." She looked around the Youth Center and made a face. "I have a lot of cleaning up to do here. Thanks again."

"No problem," Zack said with a smile before heading towards the door he came in from. "What are friends for?"

* * *

**A/N: **So this is off to a bit of a slow start, but I'm glad you're all enjoying the fic so far. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorite, and alerted.

**~HypnoticMelody~**


	4. Putties in the Park

_"I like to play cards. I'm not very good, because I don't want to calculate, I just play by instinct." -Jack Ma_

* * *

**04:**

_Putties in the Park_

Jason pulled his t-shirt on over his head, groaning slightly as his sore muscles were stretched taught and contracted with each movement, looking at his reflection in the mirror over his dresser. He paused, in pulling his shirt down over his stomach, looking at the splotches of discoloration around his ribs.

He gently prodded at a spot and watched as his face scrunched up into a look of pain. His side throbbed with pain and he felt his breath rush past his lips, as he hunched over slightly. He dropped his shirt and made his way into the closet to grab his backpack from the floor. He threw it onto his shoulder, the corner catching a bruise on the back of his hip as he did so.

"Oh, God," Jason groaned to himself.

He breathed in and out of his nose a few times before making his way out of his room, headed towards the stairs. He knew that his injuries would be much worse had it not been for his Power Ranger suit. All his time serving as a Ranger, his suit had saved himself and his friends so many times, but it was all worth it to keep his family and the citizens of Angel Grove safe.

"_You now have the choice to remain Power Rangers or to return to the lives you held before accepting these powers._"

Zordon's words rang in his ears. After defeating Goldar and his War Zord, Cyclopsis, Jason was confident they could handle everything. In spite of the citizens of Angel Grove being kidnapped, and being disconnected from the Command Center, as well as being cornered by Goldar at Billy's garage, the Rangers managed to pull through.

That didn't mean he wasn't worried about the fate of Angel Grove, his family or his friends, and he was scared about what would happen, but he wasn't going to show his friends that fear. He had to keep his head up and lead his team through any obstacle that was thrown their way. Cyclopsis and Lokar weren't going to be the last monsters Rita threw at them, trying to take over their planet, and as long as she was around, he was going to do everything he could to protect Angel Grove. That was why it wasn't hard for him to decide to continue being a Ranger. He wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Hey, mom," Jason called as he headed down the stairs, moving to enter the kitchen, "is it alright if everyone comes over tonight?" He dropped his backpack in his chair at the kitchen table before stepped up beside his mother, who was standing over the stove. He reached for a cooling piece of bacon, narrowly missing his mom's slap to his hand as he placed the bacon on his tongue. Grinning, he took a bite out of it. "They won't stay late."

"Yes, that's fine with me," Lisa replied, briefly rolling her eyes at his actions. "If any of them need to stay over for whatever reason, just be sure to let their parents know." She then turned towards him. "How's Mel adjusting?"

"She's doing well," Jason replied around the crunching of the bacon in his mouth. "I guess." He took another bite out of the bacon. "She and Zack have gotten back to insulting each other, anyway." Lisa laughed a little bit. "She's fit back in pretty well. She's got a job at the Youth Center, too."

"That's good," Lisa said with a smile. She turned down the flames underneath the skillet, turning towards him. "Her father was really worried about her coming back after all this time. Her mother's death was really hard on her. It was hard on the both of them, but she feels like it was partially her fault because her mother was coming in for her birthday."

"That's not her fault at all, though," Jason said with a shake of his head.

"I know, but it's a part of the grieving process," Lisa replied. She grasped the glass container of bacon and walked past him and to the kitchen table, setting it down next to the bowl of hash browns and scrambled eggs. "Unfortunately, with their busy schedules, I don't think either of them has fully accepted it to be honest with you. Could you get the orange juice for me?"

Jason turned towards the refrigerator and pulled it open. He reached over the door and grabbed the carton, holding it out towards her, using his hip to close the door. Pain instantly shot up his side, settling into the base of his spine. He bit down on the inside of his cheek, stopping himself from groaning in pain. His eyes watered slightly as he held the carton of juice out towards his mom.

"I need to ask a favor of you," she said giving him a smile of thanks before setting the juice down onto the table. "Michael is worried about her, and with his job he doesn't think he'll be spending a lot of time at home. He's just asked that we look out for her."

"No problem, mom," Jason replied, massaging his hip bone before making his way over to the kitchen table. He moved his backpack to the floor before sitting down. "Is dad still asleep?"

"Yes, he's preparing for a late night at work, but he should be up soon," Lisa replied as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. "What with Rita's attack the other day, he's bound to have a pile of paperwork on his desk when he goes in for work today."

"I'll bet," Jason replied, holding back a smile as he loaded his plate with food. "Thanks for breakfast, mom." A lot of times, he'd just stick with cereal for breakfast as his parents would normally be up earlier than he needed to be to prepare for their day of work. They'd be out the door at least two hours earlier than he needed to be up.

"You still plan on going scuba diving this afternoon, right?" Lisa asked and Jason gave a nod of his head."Well, you need all the energy you can get." She speared some of her eggs, sliding them into her mouth. "Is it still only you, Trini, and Zack that are going?"

"Mmhmm," Jason replied with a nod of his head. He put his hand in front of his mouth and said, "Billy and Kim are sitting it out this time. But, it should be fun." He then dropped his hand and continued to chew the bite of food in his mouth.

"You should invite Mel to go with you," Lisa replied, "you have extra equipment and everything."

"Yeah, but Trini and Zack have done more dives with me," Jason replied. "And she's afraid of deep water." It wasn't that he didn't want her to take part, he did. It was just that they had the dive planned for a while and even before then, they had gone through weeks of lessons and classes and practice dives in the swimming pool. On the other hand, he didn't want her to feel left out. Lisa arched an eyebrow in her son's direction. "I'll ask her, I'm just saying."

He quickly finished his breakfast before heading back upstairs to brush his teeth. After grabbing his backpack, he gave his mom a kiss goodbye on the cheek before heading out the front door and over to the red truck that sat in the driveway. He pulled open the driver's seat door and tossed his backpack into the passenger seat. He climbed into the truck and slammed the door shut behind him before he put his car keys into the ignition, turning over the engine.

As soon as he did so, his ear drums were met with a loud blast of rock music. Jason groaned; slapping his hands over his hears before reaching for the knob to turn down the volume. "Gosh darn it, Zack," he said, squeezing an eye shut before he removed the parking brake and backed out of the driveway. He had just pulled out his neighborhood and headed down the road for a few minutes when he recognized a walking figure on the side of the road. He pulled over and rolled down the passenger side window.

"Hey, Mel," he called, getting the girl's attention. "You need a lift to school?"

"Do you know how sketchy this could look to some people?" Melody asked; an amused look on her face as she motioned towards his truck.

"You're living in a city where, nowadays, people barely bat an eyelash when they hear that Rita has attacked the city," Jason replied. He then unbuckled his seat belt and opened the passenger seat door, pushing it open for her before removing his backpack from the passenger seat. "Get in."

"Thanks, Jase," Melody replied with a smile as she climbed into his truck, tossing her backpack down onto the ground. He pulled away from the curb as she reached for her seat belt. "Nice truck. A Nissan right?"

"Yeah," Jason replied, blinking in surprise. "How'd you know that?" He then removed a hand from the steering wheel and gently hit himself in the forehead."I take that back. Your dad used to work at an auto shop, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he used to be an automotive mechanic assistant," Melody replied, "but that was kind of between contracting jobs. He's always been the type that always has to have his hands doing something. He's always liked fixing things." She adjusted the strap of the seat belt across her chest. "I've always been interested in cars, but he's taught me a lot. Let me tell ya, it's saved him from spending loads with a mechanic; although that was just with simple things, nothing too big."

"So now I know who to go to when I'm having car trouble," Jason said, quickly throwing a smile at her before putting his eyes back on the road ahead of him. _I wonder if she'd be able to use that to help Billy and Alpha in the Command Center. _He looked over at her out of the corner of his eye before he used a hand to rub at his forehead. _How are we going to keep this a secret from her? _He cleared his throat. "So, you've always been walking to school?"

"Only when dad can't drive me," Melody replied with a shrug. "It's good exercise, so it's cool."

"I don't have a problem driving you," Jason said with a shake of his head. "It's not out of my way or anything, I mean, we _are _in biking distance if each other."

"I appreciate it, but you really don't have to," Melody replied with a brief shake of her head. "I don't want you to have to go out of your way for me or anything." She then paused mid-head shake, her eyes narrowing slightly to look at his arm. "Dude, what happened?"She reached out a finger and motioned to the bruise on the inside of his arm.

"Oh, sparring practice," Jason replied, briefly looking down at the splotch as he came up to a red light. "It looks worse than it is. I'm fine." He gave a slight frown as he glanced down at his sleeveless shirt. "Probably would've been better if I wore a different shirt, though."

"It's nothing some concealer and foundation can't cover," Melody replied with a wave of her hand. Jason shot her a confused look before the light turned green and he put his eyes back on the road. She shrugged a second time. "I've had some experience in that area."

Jason felt an odd shiver roll down his spine at those words. He didn't know why, but those words didn't settle well with him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Zack didn't tell you about that pig monster that came to the Youth Center the other day?" Melody asked before she held out her arm. "When I got up this morning, I had bruises the size of grapefruits all over my arm. Now you can't see anything." She then gave him a confused look. "What did you think I meant?"

"I don't know," Jason admitted after a moment of silence. "Are you ok, though? Zack did tell me about Pudgy Pig being at the Youth Center. I'm glad no one was hurt."

"No, but I think it'll put Bulk and Skull off bacon for a while," Melody joked. Jason laughed along with her.

"So, after school today, Zack, Trini, and I are going scuba diving," Jason said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "I was certified as a diving instructor a couple years ago. We have extra equipment if you want to come with."

"I'm going to have to pass," Melody said with a short laugh. "Deep water and me don't mix, you know that. Or at least you should; you were there when Zack pushed me into that pool." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "On second thought, I think a lot of my potential traumatic moments are because of Zack. The pool, the spider, the clowns-"she shuddered.

"Well, I just thought I'd suggest it," Jason said with a shrug of one shoulder, "but I'm inviting everyone over tonight to hang out, too." He peered over at her, and saw a thoughtful look cross her face before he looked back out onto the road. He brought a hand to his mouth, running it over his chin before biting down on his thumbnail. "If Tommy can come, you can finally meet him."

He didn't fully expect for his friend to easily slide back into their group of friends, especially since he knew that no one could tell her about them being Power Rangers. He knew that it was hard enough to come into school after the semester started, after six years of moving around the US. It just seemed like she was trying to get out of hanging out with them.

It was already hard enough to figure out how to get out of the house without his mom asking a lot of questions in regards to his injuries. Not only that, but having to think of excuses to get out of places as quickly as possible to chase down the Putties or to face whatever monster Rita through their way became harder whenever they were around friends or family.

"Sure," she finally replied after a moment of silence. Jason pulled into the parking lot of Angel Grove High, shutting off the car. "That sounds like fun. Dad's going to be home late anyway, and I'd rather not be by myself."

"Are you all unpacked yet?" Jason asked as he popped his seat belt from the buckle. Melody let out a laugh.

"If you've moved as much as I have you never really get fully unpacked," Melody said with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head. "I just hope this is my last moves for a while"

"Yeah, me too," Jason said, giving her a smile. Melody smiled back before sliding out of the car. He reached for his backpack and threw it over one shoulder. He removed his car keys from the ignition and slammed the door shut, locking the doors behind him.

"Thanks for the ride," Melody said as she walked around the back of the truck to meet him. She gathered her hair in her hands and reached for the elastic band to twist her hair into a side ponytail.

"No problem," Jason replied, sliding his car keys into his jeans pockets. He was silent for a moment before looking over at him. "So, listen, my mom kind of told me what happened with your mom-" he watched as Melody briefly scrunched up her face, "I'm sorry that happened. You're always welcome at my place, you know. That hasn't changed or anything."

"Ok, look," Melody said, grasping his wrist, stopping him from walking. "I just get kind of…weird around this time. I know it doesn't seem like I ever really want to hangout, and I guess part of that is true, but-"

"You don't have to apologize," Jason said, putting a hand up into the air. "I get it. We're all here for you, though."

"Ok, _now _you're getting too sappy on me," Melody said with a laugh, shoving his shoulder. She blinked in surprise when he barely moved. Jason laughed lightly.

"Now, you're sounding like the old Mel," he commented as they headed into the school.

"Hey, she was bound to reappear sooner or later," Melody replied, putting her hands up into the air, briefly shaking her head to the side. She gave a small laugh, gently smacking his stomach with the back of her hand. "So, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," Jason replied, passing through the archways of the school before taking a right, heading into the junior and senior section of the school. He reached for the door handle and grasped it, pulling the door open for her. She gave him a smile of thanks. "Anything."

"I've heard you've been teaching classes at the Youth Center," Melody said, slowing her pace so he could fall into step with her. "For kids?" Jason gave a nod of his head. He had been teaching classes at Angel Grove High for kids who wanted to learn martial arts for about a year and a half now, and he truly enjoyed every minute of it. To see the looks on kids' faces when they went up a belt ranking or whenever they just mastered a part of a kata they were having trouble with filled him with pride.

"Well, I haven't been able to practice or spar with anyone for a while, so I was wondering if you could help a friend in need?" Melody asked before giving him a sweet smile.

"Say no more," Jason replied, putting his hand up into the air. "I'd be happy to do it. We all head out to Angel Grove Park on the weekends to do homework and to hang out and to spar. Tommy and I have been teaching everyone some moves. What with Rita attacking every now and then, it's better to be prepared." _That's the understatement of the century_.

"That's a good idea," Melody said with a nod of her head. "I'll have to check to see if I'm working this weekend, but I'll let you know." She scratched at her forehead and Jason held back a smile. He instantly recognized that move. She did it all the time when she wanted to hide the look on her face. "Thanks, Jase, for everything."

"No problem," Jason replied as he came up to his locker. "Yo, Zack. What's up?" Zack, who was leaning up against his locker, a few lockers down from Jason's, didn't respond. Jason whistled, waving a hand in front of Zack's face.

"What's up with him?"Melody asked, wrinkling her nose.

"No idea," Jason replied, continuing to wave his hand in Zack's face. Zack slapped his hand away, and Jason pulled it back, reaching for the lock on his locker. "Dude, what's up?" Jason pulled open his locker door with a loud creak, turning to face his friend. Jason noticed that he was staring off into space and followed his gaze, rolling his eyes and shaking his head when he figured it out. "Man, you're _still_ going after Angela? Dude, she's not interested."

"Of course she is," Zack said, shooting Jason an annoyed look before his easy going grin came back to his face. "She's just playing hard to get."

It was hard for Zack to not have a smile on his face. Even while the two of them were sparring, he always had a grin. Zack was just the fun loving type. With his charming personality, and easy going nature, it was hard for anyone to _not _be friends with him. He was always looking for something fun to do, and he was always the first to give you new music to listen to, as well as to show you the hottest dance moves.

"Whatever you say, man," Jason said with a laugh, putting his backpack into his locker. "So, where's everybody?"

"Coming in late, I guess," Zack replied before lifting his hand. Jason slapped his hand into Zack's palm before the two of them snapped their fingers. "But, hey, I can't wait for scuba diving." He then glanced over at Melody who was shifting her weight from foot to foot. "You coming with, Mel?"

"No, I think I'll keep my land legs," Melody replied with a brief shake of her head before giving him a toothy smile, "thanks to you."

"Hey, you'd have to get over your fear of deep water eventually," Zack said with a sheepish grin. "I was just speeding up the process a little bit."

"Yeah, at the cost of my life," Melody replied.

"I'm having a hard time seeing the problem with this," Zack said, still grinning and took a step back when she swung her fist at him. Jason quickly caught her fist with his hand, gently pushing it away. Zack put his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," Melody replied with a short laugh, the look on her face clearly showing that she didn't believe him. "I'll see you guys later."

"See you in class," Jason said, turning towards her, holding his hand out towards her. She slapped his palm with hers, and then they slid their hands back against each other's before curling their fingers into a fist, bumping them against each other's. He turned back to his locker to exchange his books. "I can feel your eyes burning holes into the side of my skull." He reached out a hand to grasp his locker door and closed it slightly to see Zack watching him. "What?"

"Nothing," Zack replied, shaking his head, his eyebrows shooting up. "You know I seem to remember a certain friend of mine with a crush on-"

"Shut up, dude," Jason said with a shake of his head. "So, you down to hang out at my place tonight? And if you see Tommy, invite him, too. I want Mel to have the chance to meet him. I haven't seen him around lately."

"Yeah, he must really be working hard for that tournament," Zack said, scratching the back of his head. "You know how he is."

Jason gave a nod of his head before lifting his hand in a wave as Kimberly, Trini, and Billy came to join them at their lockers. "Hey, guys, everyone's invited over to my place tonight to hang out," Jason said before looking over at the Pink Ranger. "Invite Tommy if you see him."

"Sure, sounds great," Kimberly said with a grin, hugging her books to her chest. She then gave him a teasing smile. "We'll just make sure we all leave early so you can get your sleep after your long afternoon scuba diving."

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to come?" Trini asked. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

"A total blast," Zack added, "But it won't be the same without you there."

"I'm afraid I must pass on this invitation," Billy said, using his finger to push his glasses up his nose. "It is a beautiful day, and I'm excited to take part. Plus, with my aversion to fish-"

"Billy and I are going to have a great time at the park," Kimberly said reaching up to twirl a lock of her hair around her finger. "In fact, I'm going to the Youth Center to pick up our order _right _after school. It's going to be _so_ much fun. I was hoping to get here sooner so I could ask Mel if she wanted to come with." She then turned and put a hand on Billy's shoulder. "You don't mind, do you Billy?"

"Of course not, the more the merrier," Billy replied with a smile. "Although, I must say that I am worried about Rita and the potential possibility of a strike against Angel Grove." His smile wavered slightly. "I wonder how we'd be able to keep our identities a secret without her uncovering the truth."

Jason sighed through his nose. When they were all kids, growing, up they didn't keep secrets from each other. But, he knew that they weren't kids anymore. They grew up and were given all new responsibilities and this one was the biggest one had ever had bestowed upon him. He wanted everything to be normal between all of them again, but he knew it wouldn't be easy. Nothing was, not since they receive their powers. But, he was going to work it out some way.

"We'll think of something," he promised as the bell rang.

He was the leader after all.

* * *

Melody leaned back against the blanket, clasping her hands behind her head, closing her eyes, smiling as the warm rays of the sun shined down on her. "Thanks for inviting me, guys," she said, opening an eye and turning her head towards Kimberly and Billy.

"Of course!" Kimberly said with a smile, slapping at her foot.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else to eat?" Billy asked, reaching into the basket beside him, clearing space to put all the containers and silverware back inside. "We have plenty of extra." He frowned a little as he looked back over at her. Melody groaned, turning her head when the glare of the sun bounced off of the lenses. "I had noticed that you didn't eat a lot."

"It's ok, don't worry about me," Melody replied, waving a hand into the air. She then sat up and whistled, clapping her hands together. "Jaeger, come here." She craned her neck to see around the rocks and brush to see find her black cat. "Thanks for letting me get him."

"How's he adjusting to the new environment?" Kimberly asked, crossing one leg over the other, leaning back against her hands. She made a clicking sound with her tongue, looking around to see if the cat would come any closer to her. "I don't think I've seen a cat that likes to be outside." She lifted a hand, running it over the black cat's sleek body. It arched its back, purring as she did so.

"Actually, it's quite common for some felines to prefer the conditions outside," Billy explained. "In fact, it's their natural instinct. While indoor cats life vastly longer lives than outdoor cats, given that they derive from cats such as jaguars, lions, cheetahs, what have you, it's possible that they fall into that natural routine of living outdoors."

"Oook?" Melody asked, looking over at Kimberly. Kimberly looked up from the cat that sat in her lap and shrugged. Billy dropped his gaze down to his lap, pulling blades of grass out of the ground. "I'm starting to think he's supposed to be an outdoor cat. He gets worked up if left inside for too long."

"He seemed to be patrolling the place when we got here, sniffing everything," Kimberly said with a laugh.

"That's what I was thinking," Melody said, throwing her hand into the air. "He did the same thing when I brought him home. Like he wants to guard me or something." She reached out her hand as Jaeger slipped out of Kimberly's lap, walking over to her. "Before bed, he'll check every room in the house, and check to see where dad and I are before he gets into his cat bed. Happened every night since I brought him home."

"Aww, that's so cute," Kimberly cooed, clasping her hands together as Jaeger lay down in a spot of sun beside Melody. The cat's eyes fluttered shut as Billy reached out a hand to scratch it between the ears. "Is that part of their instincts, too, Billy?"

"Well, it's either that or he's starting to decide what areas in the house he's going to claim," Billy replied with a small smile."I wonder how the others are doing."

"Jason said he found a reef the last time he went diving," Kimberly said, reaching into the basket for an apple. She took a bite out of it before pointing it at Billy. "Would've been pretty cool to see, don't you think? It's like being underwater is being in a whole new world."

"A whole new world run by fish," Billy replied. Melody widened her eyes and sucked in her cheeks, forming her mouth into fish lips. She then put her hands up to her cheeks, acting as if they were fins. "Please, don't do that."

"Sorry," she said with a small, sheepish smile, dropping her hands into her lap. "I forgot you were afraid of fish." She looked over at Kimberly. "Next time you can join them, but Billy and I will have fun, right here."

"Precisely," Billy replied with a nod of his head.

Kimberly just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Alright, but will you at least help me get their gear when they come back in?" she asked, her friends. "I want to surprise them and besides, they'll be exhausted once they get out of the water."

"Sure," Melody replied, "sounds good." She then rubbed her hands together. "Any of you guys up for ice cream for dessert? I'm paying."

"Well, in _that _case," Kimberly said, pretending to think, causing Billy and Melody to laugh. "I'm in."

"I must also accept your invitation, however might I suggest we wait until our friends have resurfaced?" Billy suggested, removing his glasses from his face. He reached for his shirt sleeve, which poked out from the strap of his overall shorts, and cleaned the lenses."All that strenuous activity is bound to make them hungry."

"Ok, but-what the heck?" Melody gasped, looking around as they were suddenly surrounded by clay creatures. Billy and Kimberly instantly jumped to their feet. Jaeger eyed each of the clay figures that danced around them, hair spiked up on its back, lips pulled back into a snarl. He hissed, striking a paw through the air as a Putty got closer. She jumped when Jaeger let out a caterwaul, leaping at the Putty closest to her.

"Oh no, Putties," Kimberly groaned, her hands curling into fists. "Mel, get behind us."

_Putties_? Melody thought, getting to her feet. Billy also was standing in a fighting stance. _They must be who Jason was talking about_. She licked her lips, curling her hands into fists. She bent at the knees, falling comfortably into a fighting stance all her own. She hadn't been trained in karate or tae kwon do like Jason had been, but she did have martial arts experience with ninjitsu. She thought it worked well with her as it had quick, sharp movements, and allowed the fighter to be fast and light on their feet, something that carried over into soccer.

One of the Putties jumped towards her and Melody ducked underneath its arm, slamming her fist into its stomach. She groaned, pulling her hand back when she felt her hand kind of sink into the Putty's stomach. It felt cool and kind of squishy, yet firm at the same time, like clay actually felt. It was no wonder they were called Putties. She glanced at her hand, expecting to find a gray coating on her hand, but found it clean.

She heard Kimberly and Billy around her, fighting against the Putties. She dropped onto the ground, rolling past a Putty to get on the outside of the circle of Putties. She could hear thundering footsteps behind her as she raced towards a tree. She planted one foot on the trunk of a tree, and then swung her next foot up, leaning back until she was almost horizontal. And then she had flipped over onto her feet and slammed her foot into the Putty's back, the momentum of the Putty chasing after her and the force of the kick caused it to slam into the tree trunk before falling back onto the ground, flailing helplessly.

"Mel, watch out!" Kimberly called.

Melody turned to see another Putty running towards her and she quickly did a split on the ground, ducking her head as the Putty tripped over her. Lifting her head, she saw a streak of black shoot past her and she saw Jaeger crawling over the fallen Putty, sharp teeth revealed, scratching and biting at the Putty. She got back up to her feet and raced towards a Putty. She jumped up on top of it, swung her head back before smashing her forehead into the Putty's.

"Ow," she groaned, her vision swimming as she dropped to the ground. She stumbled a few times, blinking rapidly, a hand up to her forehead. "Ow, ow, ow." She shook her head a few times to clear her vision before she launched a series of punches and kicks at the Putties around her, twisting her body to dodge around the Putties as they attacked her. Soon, they were all on the ground, kicking and flailing before they crumbled into pieces on the ground.

"Wow," Melody said as she brushed her hair from her face.

"You ok?" Kimberly asked as she and Billy hurried over towards her. She put a hand on Melody's shoulder. The two of them were breathing heavily and Melody realized that she was as well. "You're not hurt?"

"No, I'm ok," Melody replied, rubbing at her forehead. "Those were some cool moves, though. I wouldn't have ever thought of putting gymnastics and martial arts together."

"Hey, that's all Jase," Kimberly said, putting her hands up. "You've got to give the credit to him."

"Yes, it's certainly helped us in numerous scuffles," Billy agreed with a nod, removing his glasses to wipe at the sweat that collected under his nose pads. He then put them back on and then looked around with a groan. "Look at this mess."

"How disgusting," Kimberly said, her nose wrinkling as she looked over at their overturned picnic basket. Used utensils, plates, napkins, and empty bags of food were strewn all over the place. Some of it was floating in the pond, and some of it was being tossed around the park as a gentle breeze blew. "Where's Jaeger?"

"Oh no," Melody groaned, looking around. She couldn't see the black cat anywhere. "Jaeger?"

"You go search for him, we'll stay here and get everything cleaned up," Billy offered, gently pushing on her shoulder, angling his head towards Kimberly. "Go on, it's ok."

"Yeah, we've got everything covered over here," Kimberly said, waving her hand in the air. "I just hope he hasn't gone too far."

"Yeah, me too," Melody replied before setting off at a jog. Her shoes crunched over the grass, dirt, and leaves as she headed off down the path, calling out her cat's name. She kept her head on a swivel as she did so. "Jaeger, where are you?" She slowed her jog down to a walk, spinning in a slow circle before continuing on the path. "Jaeger?"

She heard a small meow and stopped in her tracks, straining her ears to see where she could pinpoint where the sound was coming from. She heard it again and headed towards the bridge over the creek that cut through the park. She hurried over to the bridge and saw Jaeger crouched beneath the bridge. Melody crouched down by the bridge and reached out towards him.

"Hey, it's ok," she called towards him. "Those Putties are gone now-_ouch_!" She pulled her hand back after Jaeger let out a hiss, scratching at her hand.

She looked to see a couple of long, thin scratches on the back of her hand, started to bleed. Jaeger slinked out from underneath the bridge, blinking up at her as if apologizing before licking at the back of her hand with his rough tongue. Jaeger then sat back against its haunches, licked a forepaw, and swung it down over its face.

"Come on, let's get back before Kimberly and Billy start to worry," Melody said, wrapping her arm around Jaeger's stomach, lifting him up into her arms. She headed back to the area where she had just left her friends, and slowed to a stop when she didn't see her two friends around anywhere. Although, everything was packed up and back into the picnic basket. "Hmm, where'd they go?"Jaeger peered up at her with his large green eyes. "Yeah, I don't know either."

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, now that I've basically gotten the introductory chapters out of the way, I can really get into the plot of this fic. You'll be seeing things from Rita's point of view as well. I'm glad you're all enjoying this. You'll start to see signs of Melody's powers developing starting in the next chapter.

**~HypnoticMelody~**


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